Signaling-Mediated Plant Responses to Nutrient-Limited Stress

Dear Colleagues,

Plants acquire mineral nutrients from the surrounding environment, predominantly through their root systems. The absorbed mineral nutrients are transported and distributed to various plant tissues/organs via vascular systems, for diverse biological processes. In modern agriculture, sufficient fertilizer input ensures sustainable yield potential. However, nutrient leaching from farmland can also lead to serious environmental pollution.

To maintain an eco-friendly, sustainable agricultural system, it is crucial to understand the underlying mechanisms by which plants efficiently uptake and utilize mineral nutrients. In recent decades, significant research progress has been made in plant science to understand the sophisticated mineral nutrient-stress signaling pathways that regulate a series of molecular and cellular adaptive responses to environmental nutrient limits.

The local and systemic signaling pathways have been characterized for control over various plant responses, to low mineral element availability such as shoot and root morphological changes, upregulation of mineral nutrient transporters and increase in organic acid synthesis. These signaling pathways function at the cellular and whole-plant levels to orchestrate mineral nutrient metabolic processes and plant growth performance under nutrient-starvation conditions.   

In this Special Issue, we aim to discuss the recent findings and new discoveries relating signaling-mediated plant responses to nutrient-limited conditions. Your innovative approach and contributions to the field of mineral nutrition align perfectly with the themes of our Special Issue. We hope to see your valuable work in this Special Issue.

Dr. Byung-Kook Ham
Dr. Jieyu Chen
Guest Editors

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