Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plant Mineral Nutrition

Dear Colleagues,

Photosynthesis is an extremely important process in plants that enables the production of biomass and release of oxygen into the atmosphere. However, it cannot operate without several mineral elements, called essential nutrients. Without Mg and Mn, for example, there would be no chlorophylls or oxygen-evolving complex. For an element to be considered an essential nutrient, is must be part of an essential molecule or participate in an essential reaction.

Plant science seeks to achieve efficiency in metabolic processes to improve plant performance. This applies to plant mineral nutrition, too. A plant that absorbs nutrients efficiently produces more biomass with a certain number of nutrients. In such a plant, roots need to manage the soil more efficiently by developing a well-distributed and deep root system or mechanisms that improve the acquisition of nutrients. In addition, absorbed nutrients need to be reused more efficiently during the phenological cycle, which implies exact control of the senescence process and transport to the tissues with greater demand.

Supplying essential nutrients can be carried out via foliar spraying, but soil fertilization allows greater supply to be distributed. The physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the soil are critical to the availability and absorption of nutrients by the roots, influencing root growth and the emergence of metabolic/physiological strategies to increase the efficiency of nutrient absorption when they are poorly available in the soil. In addition, the presence of symbionts and other microorganisms in the rhizosphere, endosphere and phyllosphere add complexity to the system, which can shape the ability of plants to acquire a particular nutrient. For example, enzymes released by plants and microorganisms can affect the availability of some nutrients. Associations with mycorrhizal fungi and diazotrophic bacteria play a fundamental role in the absorption of nutrients from the environment and their transfer to the plant. Recent reports have shown the importance of the relationship between plants and microorganisms, whose symbiotic interactions have been shaped over millions of years. Such knowledge can lead to the generation of sustainable technologies for agricultural production systems.

Plants absorb other non-essential elements, e.g., selenium, from the soil, which, together with essential nutrients, are important for animal health. In this regard, food security is related to food quality as well as the amount produced. Food has to provide adequate essential nutrients for human health. Considering the prediction of world population growth, up to the end of the century, challenges related to food security are of increasingly interest for the scientific community. Producing more nutritious food is thus a primary focus in plant science.

As a consequence of world population growth, problems related to environmental contamination are expected to increase. Organic compounds and heavy metals released by anthropogenic activity can put human health at risk as they can be absorbed by plants and enter the food chain. In this sense, phytoremediation could present an alternative strategy for transforming, neutralizing or immobilizing contaminants.

This Special Issue focuses on all of the abovementioned aspects. Other topics not mentioned, but which take into account plant processes and their interactions with the environment, will also be considered, including microbiology, soil science and ecology. We are also interested in works in the agronomic field detailing genetic manipulation by modern techniques. We expect this Special Issue to become an important source of information for studies in the physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology of plant mineral nutrition.

Prof. Dr. Paulo Mazzafera
Prof. Dr. Sara Adrian Lopes Andrade
Guest Editors

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• plant physiology
• nutrient use efficiency
• nutritional deficiency
• membrane transporters
• root system
• nutrient transport
• remobilization
• phytoremediation
• plant stress