식물에서 인의 역할과 인산염 고갈 위기 대응 방안

Phosphate depletion: research status and challenges in agriculture

Phosphate, an important macronutrient required for plant growth, is involved in various processes, including energy metabolism, and is also a key component of nucleic acids and phospholipids. Phosphorus fertilizers are not reusable and phosphate rock, which is the only phosphorus fertilizer resource, is limited and becoming depleted. To address this issue, phosphate transporters that can absorb phosphate from underground soil and transport it to plant aerial parts have been identified in Arabidopsis and major crops, such as rice, wheat, barley, maize, and soybean. Phosphate in the soil is primarily absorbed through diffusion via phosphate gradients between the soil and plant and transported to the shoot via the xylem. The plant uses the acquired phosphate and it accumulates in the seeds, thereby influencing plant growth for the next generation. Symbiotic phosphate acquisition via arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the genes or quantitative trait loci involved in increased phosphate uptake with enhanced yield have been reported. However, besides climate, soil phosphate uptake is affected by various environmental factors such as soil water content, pH, texture, temperature, and element composition. Thus, developing crops with desired traits for high phosphate uptake and phosphate-use efficiency and cultivating them in appropriate environments is essential. This review provides comprehensive information on transporters and genes or quantitative trait loci that are known to enhance phosphate acquisition and transportation. Moreover, we discuss measures to address the problem of phosphorus depletion.