Nutritional and Adaptive Aspects of Ion Transport in Plants

The transmembrane transport of ions is a critical process enabling plants to interact with the external environment. Fundamental for nutrient acquisition and stress adaptation, the transport mechanisms regulate bi-directional fluxes of essential and non-essential ions across cellular membranes. These fluxes are central to plant growth and development. As such, the uptake of essential nutrients such as NO₃^-, NH₄⁺, and K⁺ enables plant biomass gain, while the exclusion of non-essential heavy metal ions such as Cd²⁺ and As³⁺is critical for avoiding toxicity in plants.

Plant systems have evolved intricate regulatory mechanisms to maintain ion homeostasis, including promoting the efflux of specific ions. For example, H+ efflux is essential for cell elongation, and the efflux of toxic ions like Na⁺ plays a significant role in detoxification. Understanding how plants regulate these ion fluxes is vital for elucidating their adaptive strategies to both nutrient availability and environmental stress conditions.

The primary goal of this research topic is to advance our understanding of the transmembrane transport mechanisms governing ion transport in plants, with a focus on their dual roles in nutrient uptake and stress responses. We aim to spotlight the roles of ion carriers and channels that are directly implicated in these processes and explore the regulatory mechanisms governing ion transport at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels to elucidate the biochemical pathways and regulatory networks that guide these crucial processes.

We welcome submissions that include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Carriers or channels involved in ion transport across cellular membranes.
• Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and post-transcriptional regulation of ion transport across membranes.
• Ion transport related to nutrient uptake and use efficiency.
• The role and operation of ion transporters in sensing and adaptation to environmental stresses

Keywords: ion influx, ion efflux, nutrient uptake, abiotic stresses, biotic stresses

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.