Physiology in plant science: what lies ahead?

Abstract

Although plant physiology can be understood, in a simple way, as the study of the growth and development of plants, this field of botany goes beyond from seed germination to flowering. In other words, plant physiol­ogy is not only an isolated part of science that explains a response, but a large field that harbors a series of areas from science. Nowadays, with so much novelty in the molecular and biochemical approaches, in the use of new technics, in studies with transgenic and mutant plants, and with the easy way in which the divul­gation of the research results occurs, plant physiology becomes a part of multiple, basic or applied research field. Thus, in this overview, five physiological topics are observed, which address an integrative overview of the plant physiology with some plant science traits and research perspectives that are applied therein.