Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth and development, yet its availability in soil is often limited. Nitrogen deficiency severely constrains crop yield, particularly under abiotic stress conditions. As a staple food crop in China, rice demands substantial nitrogen fertilizer inputs, yet its NUE remains relatively low, ranging from only 30%–40% (Li et al., 2022b). Excessive nitrogen application not only raises economic costs for farmers but also causes environmental pollution, including water eutrophication, air pollution, soil acidification and compaction. Therefore, improving rice NUE is an ideal approach to reduce nitrogen fertilizer usage and represents a core research direction for sustainable rice production. Identifying key genes that govern NUE and elucidating their molecular mechanisms will provide essential genetic resources and theoretical supports for nitrogen-efficient rice breeding.

As sessile organisms, plants are constantly exposed to abiotic stresses that profoundly affect nitrogen uptake and utilization. Conversely, the nitrogen management capacity of a plant is closely linked to its stress resilience (Wang et al., 2025b). Rice, grown across tropical to temperate regions, faces multiple environmental constraints. Drought, for example, severely limits production in rainfed systems, impacting all growth stages of rice, especially the water-sensitive booting and flowering stages (Fukai and Cooper, 1995; Cairns et al., 2011). In coastal zones, saline-alkali inland areas, or regions irrigated with high-salinity water, salt stress significantly suppresses rice growth and development (Ganie et al., 2021; Liang et al., 2024). Meanwhile, global warming is increasing the frequency, intensity, and duration of heat stress, further threatening rice yield and quality (Yang et al., 2022b; Li et al., 2023). Additionally, cold stress constrains rice cultivation in high-latitude, high-altitude zones and in early-season production systems (Li et al., 2022a). Compounding these challenges, these abiotic stresses often co-occur—for instance, drought frequently coincides with high temperatures, and salt stress can be exacerbated by drought.

Adapting to complex and dynamic environments is central to plant survival and a prerequisite for achieving high and stable crop yields to ensure food security. Understanding how rice coordinates environmental signals with nitrogen utilization pathway is therefore critical for deciphering its adaptive strategies and for designing varieties that combine high-NUE and multi-stress resilience. This review examines the interplay between nitrogen utilization and major abiotic stresses in rice, highlights recent advances in this field, and discusses challenges and opportunities in applying this knowledge to breed high-efficiency, stress-tolerant rice varieties.