Mechanism of iron uptake and homeostasis in plants

Iron is an essential micronutrient required by plants for their growth and development. The iron in the soil is abundant but is not bioavailable to the plants. To combat this issue, plants have evolved different strategies for efficient iron uptake and enabling plants to adapt to low iron conditions. The strategies comprised iron acquisition from the soil, its transport from roots to shoots, and intracellular storage. The iron mobilization in plants generally takes place through chelating with citrate, phytosiderophores, nicotianamine, mugineic acid and in the form of free iron ions. Recent finding further revealed that to maintain iron homeostasis these genes are tightly regulated at transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels in response to iron deficiency. Furthermore, increasing evidences highlight certain factors which are interlinked and integrated to adapt to iron deficiency. In the current chapter, we have highlighted the iron acquisition from soil to plants, long-distance transport, and intracellular storage and plant adaptation under iron deficiency.