Metallic Micronutrient Homeostasis in Plants

Large parts of the agricultural soils in the world have low transition metal bioavailability. Considering that these nutrients are cofactors of around a third of the proteins of a typical cell, multiple physiological processes are affected by it, resulting in smaller plants, less tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses. Furthermore, the low metal content in edible parts leads to malnutrition in over 30% of the world population, and a higher rate of the population with impaired learning capabilities or immune function. As Climate Change and Population Growth add further strain to agriculture, crops that are better able to recover metals from soils, that have a more efficient translocation to leaves, fruits, or to endosymbionts, and whose metallic micronutrients are more easily assimilable by humans need to be developed. This is one of the greatest challenges facing agriculture in the 21st century. To achieve this, knowledge about genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling metallic micronutrient accumulation and distribution in plants are still needed. Recently, several strategies for micronutrient uptake have been described. Nevertheless, the role of major components in metal homeostasis control, long distant transport and micronutrient delivery to target organs need further investigation.

This Research Topic will consider submissions that deal with different aspects of micronutrient homeostasis in plants, including studies of nutrient uptake, transport, metabolism and storage, and studies on the physiological effect of raising temperatures and green-house gases.