Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gvh9x Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T13:21:01.850Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 4 - Mineral nutrition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Helgi Öpik  and
Stephen A. Rolfe
Edited in consultation with
Arthur J. Willis
Helgi Öpik
Affiliation:
University of Wales, Swansea
Stephen A. Rolfe
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Arthur J. Willis
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Of the naturally occurring 92 elements of the periodic table, about a quarter are essential to plants. Water and CO2 provide the plant with the elements C, H and O; the remaining necessary elements are obtained by flowering plants as inorganic mineral ions, mostly from the soil solution. Water uptake and ion uptake are to some extent linked, e.g. water uptake mediated by root pressure depends on ion uptake, and the rate of ion uptake tends to increase with increasing rate of transpiration. But the uptake of mineral ions differs greatly from water uptake in that it proceeds against the free energy gradient of the ions and is dependent on metabolic energy. The transport of ions through cellular membranes is mediated by numerous membrane-bound transport proteins which enable the plant to exert considerable control and selectivity over the process. This is vital if the nutritional needs of the plant are to be satisfied. Heterotrophic organisms obtain nearly all their essential elements via plants and the element composition of plants is accordingly of major interest and importance also for human nutrition.

Essential elements

Definition: macronutrients and micronutrients

An element is classed as essential to a plant if the plant cannot complete its life cycle without it and no other element can substitute for it. The effect of the element must also be direct, i.e. it should not act by promoting the uptake of another essential element, or by retarding the absorption of a toxic one.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Physiology of Flowering Plants , pp. 100 - 132
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beevers, L.Nitrogen Metabolism in Plants. New York, NY: Elsevier, 1976.Google Scholar
Blevins, D. G. & Lukaszevski, K. M.Boron in plant structure and function. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology, 49 (1999), 481–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, P. H., Bellaloui, N., Hu, H. & Dandekar, A.Transgenically enhanced sorbitol synthesis facilitates boron transport and increases tolerance of tobacco to boron deficiency. Plant Physiology, 119 (1999), 17–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crawford, N. M.Nitrate: nutrient and signal. The Plant Cell, 7 (1995), 859–868.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dupont, F. M. & Leonard, R. T.The use of lanthanum to study the functional development of the Casparian strip in corn roots. Protoplasma, 91 (1977), 315–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, E.The anomaly of silicon in plant biology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 91 (1994), 11–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flowers, T. J. & Yeo, A. R.Solute Transport in Plants. Glasgow: Blackie, 1992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Imsande, J. & Touraine, B. N demand and the regulation of nitrate uptake. Plant Physiology, 105 (1994), 3–7.CrossRef
Krämer, U. (2000). Cadmium for all meals – plants with an unusual appetite. New Phytologist, 145 (2000), 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raghothama, K. G.Phosphate acquisition. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology, 50 (1999), 665–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raskin, I. & Ensley, B. D.Phytoremediation of Toxic Metals: Using Plants to Clean Up the Environment. New York, NY: Wiley, 2000.Google Scholar
Read, D. J. & Perez-Moreno, J.Mycorrhizas and nutrient cycling in ecosystems – a journey towards relevance? New Phytologist, 157 (2003), 475–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, R. J., Lea, P. G. & Gallon, J. R. Nitrogen fixation. In Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2nd edn, ed. Lea, P. J. & Leegood, R. C.. Chichester: Wiley, 1999, pp. 137–62.Google Scholar
Smith, S. E. & Read, D. J.Mycorrhizal Symbiosis, 2nd edn. London: Academic Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Terry, N., Zayed, A. M., Souza, M. P. & Tarun, A. S.Selenium in higher plants. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology, 51 (2000), 401–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heijden, M. G. A., Klironomos, J. N., Ursic, M.et al. Mycorrhizal fungal diversity determines plant biodiversity, ecosystem variability and productivity. Nature, 396 (1998), 69–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vance, C. P. The molecular biology of N metabolism. In Plant Metabolism, 2nd edn, ed. Dennis, D. T., Turpin, D. H., Lefebvre, D. D. & Layzell, D. B.. Harlow: Addison Wesley Longman, 1997, pp. 449–77.
Zhao, F. J., Lombi, E., Breedon, T. & McGrath, S. P.Zinc hyperaccumulation and cellular distribution in Arabidopsis halleri. Plant, Cell and Environment, 23 (2000), 507–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, C. I., Clarkson, D. T. & Cram, W. J. (1995). Sulphate supply and its regulation of transport in roots of a tropical legume Macroptilium atropurpureum cv. Siratro. Journal of Experimental Botany, 46, 65–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glass, A. D. M. & Dunlop, J. (1979). The regulation of K+ influx in excised barley roots. Planta, 145, 395–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marschner, H. (1995). Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, 2nd edn. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Mendel, R. R. & Hänsch, R. (2002). Molybdoenzymes and molybdenum cofactors in plants. Journal of Experimental Botany, 53, 1689–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tester, M. (1990). Plant ion channels: whole-cell and single-channel studies. New Phytologist, 114, 305–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tester, M.(1997). Techniques for studying ion channels: an introduction. Journal of Experimental Botany, 48, 353–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vance, C. P. (2001). Symbiotic nitrogen fixation and phosphorus acquisition: plant nutrition in a world of declining renewable resources. Plant Physiology, 127, 390–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Mineral nutrition
  • Helgi Öpik, University of Wales, Swansea, Stephen A. Rolfe, University of Sheffield
  • Edited in consultation with Arthur J. Willis, University of Sheffield
  • Book: The Physiology of Flowering Plants
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164450.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Mineral nutrition
  • Helgi Öpik, University of Wales, Swansea, Stephen A. Rolfe, University of Sheffield
  • Edited in consultation with Arthur J. Willis, University of Sheffield
  • Book: The Physiology of Flowering Plants
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164450.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Mineral nutrition
  • Helgi Öpik, University of Wales, Swansea, Stephen A. Rolfe, University of Sheffield
  • Edited in consultation with Arthur J. Willis, University of Sheffield
  • Book: The Physiology of Flowering Plants
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164450.005
Available formats
×