Transport system of mineral elements in rice

Plant requires 14 mineral elements for their growth and development. These elements in the soil are taken up by the roots, translocated from the roots to the shoots, and distributed to different organs depending on their demands (Marschner P, Mineral nutrition of higher plants, 3rd edn. Academic, London, 2012). In addition to these essential elements, toxic elements such as Cd and As are also transported from the soils to aboveground parts. All these processes require various transporters (membrane proteins). During the last decades, a number of transporters for uptake, translocation, and distribution of mineral elements have been identified, especially in model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice; however, most transporters remain to be identified. In this chapter, transporters identified so far in rice are described, and the regulation mechanisms of transporters in response to environmental changes are also discussed.