ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Nitrogen-Mediated Improvement of Ionic Homeostasis and Antioxidant Capacity Enhances Rice Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency Under Soda Saline-Alkali Stress
Feng Jin 1
Hongyue Wang 2
Hange Liu 2
Qingyu Wang 2
Yang Song 2
Xudong Wang 2
Biao Sui 2
1. Jilin University, Changchun, China
2. Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China
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Abstract
The unique physicochemical properties of soda saline-alkali soils significantly reduce soil nitrogen availability and crop nitrogen use efficiency. While high-yield and high-efficiency cultivation practice offer a key strategy for the synergistic improvement of both crop productivity and resource use efficiency. However, the optimal nitrogen input rate for these practices remains to be determined. Hence, a three-year field study was implemented with nitrogen fertilizer application rates ranging from 0 to 325 kg ha⁻¹ (0, 125, 175, 225, 275, 325 kg ha⁻¹) to assess their effects on ionic balance, stress physiology, nitrogen use efficiency, and grain yield in rice grown under soda saline-alkali soil conditions. The findings indicate that additional nitrogen fertilizer, particularly at 275 kg ha⁻¹ within the high-yield and high-efficiency cultivation practice, significantly reduced the leaf Na⁺/K⁺ ratio and levels of superoxide anion (O₂⁻) and malondialdehyde (MDA), while increasing K⁺ concentration and enhancing the levels of soluble proteins and proline, as well as the activities of peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Conversely, leaf Na⁺ concentration increased significantly with rising nitrogen application rates. Furthermore, supplementary nitrogen fertilizer significantly improved total nitrogen uptake, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and nitrogen agronomic efficiency (NAE) in rice, which can be attributed to markedly enhanced activities of key nitrogen metabolism enzymes. Consequently, grain yields under the N4 (275 kg ha⁻¹), N5 (325 kg ha⁻¹), N3 (225 kg ha⁻¹), N2 (175 kg ha⁻¹), and N1 (125 kg ha⁻¹) treatments exhibited significant increases of 94.34%, 62.40%, 56.15%, 37.78%, and 24.01%, respectively, relative to the N0 control. These results demonstrate that, within the high-yield and high-efficiency cultivation practice, nitrogen fertilization at a rate of 275 kg ha⁻¹ plays a crucial role in improving rice productivity and optimizing nitrogen use efficiency in soda saline-alkali paddy fields.
Summary
Keywords
Nitrogen metabolism enzyme, nitrogen use efficiency, rice, Soda saline-alkali, stress physiology
Received
01 December 2025
Accepted
19 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Jin, Wang, Liu, Wang, Song, Wang and Sui. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Feng Jin
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