Abstract
Sulphur plays crucial roles in plant growth and development, with its functions ranging from being a structural constituent of macro-biomolecules to modulating several physiological processes and tolerance to abiotic stresses. In spite of these numerous sulphur roles being well acknowledged, agriculture has paid scant regard for sulphur nutrition, until only recently. Serious problems related to soil sulphur deficiencies have emerged and the intensification of food, fiber, and animal production is escalating to feed the ever-increasing human population. In the wake of huge demand for high quality cereal and vegetable diets, sulphur can play a key role in augmenting the production, productivity, and quality of crops. Additionally, in light of the emerging problems of soil fertility exhaustion and climate change-exacerbated environmental stresses, sulphur assumes special importance in crop production, particularly under intensively cropped areas. Here, citing several relevant examples, we highlight, in addition to its plant biological and metabolism functions, how sulphur can significantly enhance crop productivity and quality, as well as acclimation to abiotic stresses. By this appraisal, we also aim to stimulate readers interests in crop sulphur research by providing priorities for future pursuance, including bettering our understanding of the molecular processes and dynamics of sulphur availability and utilization in plants, dissecting the role of soil rhizospherical microbes in plant sulphur transformations, enhancing plant phenotyping and diagnosis for nutrient deficiencies, and matching site-specific crop sulphur demands with fertilizer amendments in order to reduce nutrient use inefficiencies in both crop and livestock production systems. This will facilitate the proper utilization of sulphur in crop production and eventually enhance sustainable and environmentally friend food production.
Highlights
The increase in steady-state levels of mRNAs for high-affinity SO4 2− transporters, ATPs, and APS reductase (APR) upon S starvation is detected by Northern blot analysis or cDNA arrays, and it is disclosed that modulation of the de-repression occurs at the transcription level
The grain protein content markedly increased by 0.65%, whilst that for the total amino acid, soluble sugar, and crude fat increased by 6.68%, 7.19%, and 7.09%, respectively, as compared to the control in one of the varieties LY16
On average, wheat yield and grain weight increased by 34.7% and 30.2% compared to the control in GY2018, whilst the increases were ~11.2% and 14.2% higher in ZM8 than the control
Summary
S macronutrient has received little attention for many years, until only recently [17,24] This is largely because, previously, it was thought fertilizers and atmospheric deposition adequately supplied the soil with enough of the nutrient [9,25]. Pacific region will be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period 2017–2026, being driven by the increase in agricultural practices and the requirement for high-quality agricultural produce [30], with the Chinese fertilizer demand playing a major role [31].
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