Micronutrient Nutrition of Plants

Abstract

Currently, there are eight trace elements considered to be essential for higher plants, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Ni, B, Mo, and Cl. Possibly, other elements will be discovered to be essential because of recent advances in nutrient solution culture techniques and in the commercial availability of highly sensitive analytical instrumentation for elemental analysis. Much remains to be learned about the physiology of micronutrient absorption, translocation and deposition in plants, and about the functions they perform in plant growth and development. This review briefly summarizes the current knowledge of micronutrients in plants and than presents some new speculations on the mechanisms of micronutrient uptake and translocation in plants.

Key Words:

• iron
• zinc
• copper
• manganese
• nickel
• molybdenum
• boron
• chlorine
• absorption
• uptake
• homeostasis
• translocation
• function
• deficiency
• membrane transport
• xylem
• phloem
• root exudates
• phytosiderophores
• phytochelatins
• phytometallophores
• root-soil interface