Chapter 13 - Physiological and molecular strategies of plant adaptationin phosphorus-deficient soils

Abstract

The low availability of soil nutrients such as phosphorus (P) has a huge impact on crop production. At the same time, crop plants have also developed complex adaptive mechanisms to low availability of nutrients for their survival. These physiological, molecular, and biochemical responses to P stress involve sensing, signaling pathways, systemic communication, and morphological changes in belowground traits of plant. A well-developed mechanism starts with roots sensing P deficiency, secreting hormones as signaling components, systemic communication and developmental programming, and changing/directing root growth accordingly toward the available P resource. The complex systemic communication takes place in xylem and phloem involving several hormones, mRNAs, and many of the transcriptional processes. In a diversified plant agroecosystem, improved P-use efficiency through resource-based competition or cooperation in facilitative interspecific systems are prominent strategies to overcome a P-deficit environment, however due to the concealed belowground world, lucid understandings are not available. In this chapter, we review the basic concepts and recent advances to develop and enhance our understanding about how plants undergo complex molecular events to hunt the sparingly available P and survive this macronutrient low-availability stress.