{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T04:49:22Z","timestamp":1791607762869,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":103,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791417600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791417600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key R&D Program of China","award":["2024YFD2200501"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024YFD2200501"]}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Program of Geological Bureau of Hunan Province","award":["HNGSTP202603"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HNGSTP202603"]}]},{"name":"Innovation Research of Hunan Natural Science Foundation","award":["2024JJ1016"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024JJ1016"]}]},{"name":"Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["2026JJ50427"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026JJ50427"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Nitrogen (N) is a vital macronutrient that dictates soil fertility and plant productivity. Heavy metal contamination threatens plant health by disrupting nutrient uptake and photosynthesis. Specifically, heavy metals accumulate in soils and inhibit key N-assimilatory enzymes, such as nitrate reductase. This inhibition restricts N availability, which limits protein synthesis and reduces overall plant biomass. This review synthesizes the recent literature to evaluate the mechanisms of heavy metal\u2013N interactions, highlighting a critical scientific insight: N exerts a dual role in heavy metal stress. Externally, the chemical form of N uptake alters rhizosphere pH, which can either mobilize or precipitate toxic metal cations. Internally, optimal N assimilation fuels the synthesis of metal-chelating proteins (e.g., phytochelatins) required for cellular detoxification. A key conclusion of this review is that isolated agronomic or physiological interventions are insufficient to manage this stress in the field. Effective mitigation requires a coupled \u201csoil-to-gene\u201d approach. By combining macroscopic soil management (e.g., pH buffering and biochar application) to restrict external metal bioavailability with targeted molecular interventions (e.g., regulating root ion transporters and leveraging microbiome-assisted multi-omics) to enhance internal detoxification, researchers can improve phytoremediation efficiency and restore soil health in multi-contaminated environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15193065","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T08:34:25Z","timestamp":1791448465000},"page":"3065","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Nitrogen Regulation Under Heavy Metal Stress in Soil\u2013Plant Systems: Implications for Plant Growth and Phytoremediation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ruize","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Changsha Technology Innovation Center for Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Asma","family":"Farooq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Changsha Technology Innovation Center for Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sijin","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bangor College, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aitezaz Ali Asad","family":"Shahani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ting","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Changsha Technology Innovation Center for Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Jiajin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bangor College, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5478-1533","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Taimoor Hassan","family":"Farooq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Changsha Technology Innovation Center for Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"},{"name":"Bangor College, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wende","family":"Yan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Changsha Technology Innovation Center for Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4944-6751","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jun","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Changsha Technology Innovation Center for Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1111\/aab.12045","article-title":"Do plants need nitrate? 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