Plant & Cell Physiology
2021 vol62 (4)
(Once sign in as a JSPP member,
fully accessible to all contents of PCP)
fully accessible to all contents of PCP)
Mineral elements are essential for plant growth and development. Macro- and micro-nutrients are taken up from the soil by plant roots and translocated to various parts of the plant body for use in a wide-range of processes. Research in plant nutrition has advanced in recent years to uncover the plethora of transporters and their regulators, with the aim of optimizing nutrient uptake and translocation in crops to enhance yield. This special issue, introduced by Ma and Tsay (see pages 539-540), provides a timely update in the field, with research and review articles covering aspects of mineral element transporters, their regulation and utilization, in plants.
The cover image shows a simplified scheme for mineral element transport in plants. Mineral elements in soils are taken up by the roots, using various transporters, and translocated to the shoots through xylem transport (red lines). Some elements are then transferred to the phloem through inter- or intra-vascular transfer (blue arrows) for distribution to developing organs (blue line). White dotted lines show signals from shoots for regulating transporters in response to environmental changes of mineral element levels. Illustration courtesy of Jian Feng Ma, with the help of Naoki Yamaji, Okayama University, Japan.
PCP Gallery
