Crop Response to Iron Deficiency is Guided by Cross-Talk Between Phytohormones and their Regulation of the Root System Architecture

Abstract

Agriculture plays a very important role in influencing major economic sectors of the developing and the developed world and is regarded as one of the most crucial factors in the country’s development. Sustaining quality agriculture production is a necessity particularly of the under-developed, the developing and those countries which are inclined to a demographic spurt in the near future. However, the growth in the agricultural sector is marred by abiotic and biotic threats which take toll not only on productivity but also on quality of the farm produce. Later is important to address the challenge of malnutrition in humans and animals. It is thus important to strategically approach the present and emerging challenges that hamper sustainability and growth of the agricultural sector for which it is important to understand the soil-plant environment interactions under a prevailing stressful condition and elucidate the mechanism that harbour tolerance against the stress and facilitate a favourable-synergistic-balanced influence of the stress on plant growth and development. Plant survival and performance under abiotic stress condition are mainly regulated by root proliferation and nutrient extraction from soil. Later is facilitated by a preferential allocation of resources to the roots and a favourable change in root system architecture (RSA), caused by an altered hormonal balance. The present paper critically reviews the available literature that marks the interactive influence of phytohormones in regulating the plant root characteristics and the iron nutrition of crop plants. The mechanisms governing these interactions, whether direct or indirect, are also elaborated.