Plant Mineral Nutrition

Abstract

Several inorganic minerals are essential for plant growth and these are usually obtained by roots from the soil. Availability of minerals in the soil is determined by the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil. Plants can directly influence nutrient availability around the root surface; this zone is called the rhizosphere. Plants adjust root architecture and exudation according to their nutrient requirements and under deficiency these changes can be a marker for nutrient status. Nutrients are taken up from the soil using plasma‐membrane located transporter proteins and excess is stored in the cell vacuole or converted into polymerised storage forms. For crops it is essential to match nutrient supply to demand throughout the growth season to obtain the maximum yield. These nutrient storage forms can be used as agricultural indicators of crop nutrient status and the potential for fertilizer leaching losses. Membrane transporters provide a gateway for nutrient entry into plants, but the selectivity of these filters can breakdown when chemically similar minerals are present at very high concentrations. The minerals may not be essential for growth, but they can enter plant cells and cause toxicity. Key Concepts: Several mineral elements are essential for plant growth. These nutrients are usually obtained from the soil and their availability depends on the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Plants adjust their root growth according to their nutrient requirements and these changes can be a marker for nutrient status. It is necessary to matching nutrient supply to demand throughout the growth season to obtain maximum crop yield. Excess nutrients can be stored in the plant and these storage pools can be used as indicators of nutrient status. Root plasma membrane located transporters are the gateway for entry of nutrients into the plant and their selectivity is important for determining the toxicity of some elements.

Regional differences in clonal Japanese knotweed revealed by chemometrics-linked attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy

“…6 e it is clear from the error bars that this high level varied between samples, whereas the lower ratios for SAP and SOM were more consistent between samples. Nitrogen is vital for the synthesis of chlorophyll, nucleic acids and proteins [ 102 ] and the C:N ratio is a good measure of decomposition rates, with higher C:N ratios generally leading to longer decomposition rates. Figure 7 highlights that ESB had a lower C:N than the other sites, suggesting that this riverside site in full sun had the fastest decomposition rate of all the sites.…”

“…Phosphorus (P) is essential for both ATP and nucleic acids formation [ 102 ] and often limits plant productivity because of its low mobility in soil. ESA and ESB had similar levels of plant available phosphorus, whilst ESB was lower than the other sites, ESA was similar to SOM, which in turn is similar to EDB (Fig.…”

Effect of Compost Fertilization on Some Growth Parameters and Yield of Calendula Officinalis Variety (Costa Yellow)

“…C. officinalis is a short growing cycle that require intense and fast implementation and assimilation of nutrients. Nutrient availability in case of higher application of mineral fertilizer did not exhaust the plant to increase availability of nutrients through segregates of some organic acids or enzymes (Miller, 2014). Phosphorous and other mineral presence in organic form may result in slow availability as well as low mineral supply may cause combition between plant and soil microorganisms on available amount (López-Arredondo et al, 2013).…”