Enhancing Urea Metabolism and Stress Tolerance in Tomato Through Foliar Nickel Application

Аннотация

Nickel (Ni) is recognized as an essential micronutrient pivotal for urea metabolism and stress mitigation in plants. This study synthesizes research findings to examine the role of foliar Ni application in improving urea conversion efficiency and enhancing abiotic stress resilience in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Highlighting biochemical, physiological, and agronomic perspectives, the article elaborates how Ni influences urease activation, antioxidant defense systems, and stress alleviation mechanisms. Results from previous studies demonstrate the critical contribution of Ni in managing nutrient assimilation, fruit quality, and disease resistance, suggesting a promising agricultural strategy to ensure tomato productivity under environmental challenges. Keywords: Nickel (Ni) nutrition, urease activity, urea metabolism, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), abiotic stress tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), foliar fertilization, antioxidant defense, blossom-end rot, climate change resilience. blossom-end rot incidence, and overall enhancement Introduction: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), a of fruit development [20, 21, 22]. globally significant horticultural crop, is highly susceptible to abiotic stresses, including salinity, Given these multifaceted roles, the present review drought, and nutrient imbalance [11, 19, 28, 31]. systematically explores the impacts of foliar Ni Climate change further exacerbates these stress application on urea conversion and stress mitigation in conditions, necessitating innovative agronomic tomatoes, drawing upon findings across agronomy, strategies to sustain tomato yield and quality [12, 44]. plant physiology, and molecular biology domains. Nickel (Ni) has been increasingly acknowledged as a Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most crucial micronutrient essential for the functioning of widely cultivated and economically significant crops urease, the enzyme responsible for hydrolyzing urea globally, providing essential nutrients and vitamins to into usable nitrogen forms for plant metabolism [6, 24, millions of people. However, its growth and 32]. Urea-based fertilization, although widely adopted productivity are often constrained by various for its high nitrogen content, can suffer from inefficient environmental factors, including abiotic stresses such conversion without sufficient Ni availability, leading to as drought, high temperature, and soil nutrient reduced nitrogen-use efficiency and environmental imbalances. Among these, nitrogen (N) is a critical nitrogen losses [1, 35, 46]. macronutrient that influences tomato growth, development, and fruit yield. Urea, a widely used Several studies emphasize that foliar Ni application not nitrogen fertilizer, plays a pivotal role in meeting the only enhances urease activity but also bolsters nitrogen demands of crops. However, the efficiency of antioxidant mechanisms, thus providing dual benefits urea utilization in plants can be suboptimal, often of improved nutrient utilization and abiotic stress leading to nitrogen losses in the environment through mitigation [2, 14, 23]. In tomatoes, Ni has also been processes such as volatilization and leaching. This linked to improved calcium accumulation, reduced American Journal Of Agriculture And Horticulture Innovations 1 https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajahi American Journal Of Agriculture And Horticulture Innovations (ISSN: 2771-2559) inefficiency not only compromises crop yield but also becomes more uncertain, the ability to enhance crop exacerbates environmental pollution, making nitrogen resilience and nutrient efficiency through management a crucial aspect of sustainable micronutrient supplementation could be a critical tool agriculture. for ensuring food security. Therefore, understanding the role of foliar nickel application in improving urea Recent studies have explored the potential of conversion, mitigating abiotic stress, and enhancing micronutrients in improving nitrogen metabolism in overall tomato productivity is of paramount plants, particularly in enhancing the efficiency of urea importance for sustainable agricultural practices in the conversion. Among these micronutrients, nickel (Ni) coming decades. has gained significant attention due to its essential role in various plant physiological processes, including This review aims to explore the role of foliar nickel nitrogen metabolism. Nickel is a co-factor for the application in tomato cultivation, focusing on its effects enzyme urease, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea on urea conversion, nitrogen metabolism, and abiotic into ammonia and carbon dioxide. Adequate nickel stress mitigation. By synthesizing current research availability is crucial for optimal urease activity, which findings, this article provides a comprehensive in turn enhances nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and overview of the physiological mechanisms underlying minimizes nitrogen losses in the soil. Despite its nickel's action in plants a