Nutrients uptake and transport in plants: An overview

Abstract

The forms of ions taken up by roots differ with plant species and growing conditions, controlled by a combination of soil properties. Although plants have different mechanisms of metal homeostasis that involve coordination of metal ion transporters for uptake, translocation, and compartmentalization. These characteristics are genetically determined and can differ both between and within plant species. To achieve the goal of optimizing the efficiency of micronutrient use and maximizing crop productivity, a better consideration of the processes involved in acquisition and utilization of nutrients by plants is necessary. Increasing our physiological knowledge about nutrient uptake and transport in plants will help to promote the nutrient use efficiency and may contribute to genetic modification of plants for improving plant nutrition in biofortification programs. The current chapter will discuss the physiological mechanisms of nutrient uptake by roots and its translocation into shoots.