As a key signal molecule in plants, nitrate modulates a series of biological processes during plant growth and development. Nitrate and its signal directly affect the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), yield and quality of crops. Therefore, intensive study of nitrate signal transduction is the key to sustainable agriculture. In recent years, with the rapid development of plant molecular genetics, biochemistry and other disciplines, scientists have already made many breakthroughs in nitrate signal perception, transmission as well as long-distance signal transduction, which will provide insight into how nitrate signal regulates various aspects of plant growth and development. In this review, we disscussed the recent advances in nitrate signal transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana, which is expected to provide theoretical basis for the construction of new crops with high NUE.