Minerals and mineral nutrition's

• Mineral
• Macro elements
• Micro elements
• Physiological function for macro and micro
elements.
• Plant nutrition is the study of the
chemical elements and compounds necessary for
plant growth, plant metabolism and their external
supply. In its absence the plant is unable to
complete a normal life cycle, or that the element
is part of some essential plant constituent or
metabolite. This is in accordance with Justus von
Liebig's law of the minimum. The total essential
plant nutrients include 16 different elements:
carbon, oxygen and hydrogen which are absorbed
from the air, whereas other nutrients including
nitrogen are typically obtained from the soil.
• Plants take in Carbon (C) and Oxygen (O2) in the air from
their leaves. All other nutrients are found in the soil
and are taken up for use by the roots. Macronutrients
are consumed in large quantities: nitrogen (N),
phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (C), sulfur (S)
and magnesium (Mg. Smaller amounts
of micronutrients (or trace minerals) are needed: iron
(Fe), boron (B), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper
(Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), chlorine (Cl),
• Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients
from their growing medium:-
• The macronutrients:

• Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium

• (Ca), Sulfur (S), Magnesium (Mg), Carbon (C), Oxygen

• (O), Hydrogen (H)

• The micronutrients (or trace minerals):
• iron (Fe), boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper
(Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni)
• Functions of nutrients
• Further information: Soil § Nutrients
• At least 16 elements are known to be essential nutrients for plants.
In relatively large amounts, the soil supplies nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur; these are often called
the macronutrients. In relatively small amounts, the soil supplies
iron, manganese, boron, molybdenum, copper, zinc, chlorine, and
cobalt, they called micronutrients. Nutrients must be available not
only in sufficient amounts but also in appropriate ratios.
• Plant nutrition is a difficult subject to
understand completely, partially because of
the variation between different plants and
even between different species or individuals
of a given clone. Elements present at low levels
may cause deficiency symptoms, and toxicity is
possible at levels that are too high.
Furthermore, deficiency of one element may
present as symptoms of toxicity from another
element, and vice versa. An abundance of one
nutrient may cause a deficiency of another
nutrient. For example, K+ uptake can be
influenced by the amount of NH4 available.[
• Nitrogen is plentiful in the Earth's atmosphere, and a
number of commercially-important agricultural plants
engage in nitrogen fixation (conversion of atmospheric
nitrogen to a biologically useful form). These include
soybeans, edible beans and peas as well as clovers and
alfalfa used primarily for feeding livestock. Plants such as
the commercially-important corn, wheat, oats, barley and
rice require nitrogen compounds to be present in the soil
in which they grow.
• Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air while other
nutrients are absorbed from the soil. Green plants
ordinarily obtain their carbohydrate supply from the
carbon dioxide in the air by the process of photosynthesis
. Each of these nutrients is used in a different place for a
different essential function
Nitrogen is a major constituent of several most important plant
substances. For example, nitrogen compounds comprise 40% to 50% of
the dry matter of protoplasm, and it is a constituent of amino acids, the
building blocks of proteins.It is also an essential constituent of
chlorophyll.Nitrogen deficiency most often results in stunted growth,
slow growth, and chlorosis. Nitrogen deficient plants will also exhibit a
purple appearance on the stems, petioles and underside of leaves from
an accumulation of anthocyanin pigments. Most of the nitrogen taken
up by plants is from the soil in the forms of NO−
3, although in acid environments such as boreal forests where
nitrification is less likely to occur, ammonium NH+
4 is more likely to be the dominating source of nitrogen. [9]
Amino acids
and proteins can only be built from NH+4, so NO−3
• must be reduced. In many agricultural settings,
nitrogen is the limiting nutrient for rapid growth.
Nitrogen is transported via the xylem from the
roots to the leaf canopy as nitrate ions, or in an
organic form, such as amino acids or amides.
Nitrogen can also be transported in the phloem
sap as amides, amino acids and ureides; it is
therefore mobile within the plant, and the older
leaves exhibit chlorosis and necrosis earlier than
the younger leaves
• Microorganisms have a central role in almost all
aspects of nitrogen availability, and therefore for life
support on earth. Some bacteria can convert N2 into
ammonia by the process termed nitrogen fixation;
these bacteria are either free-living or form symbiotic
associations with plants or other organisms (e.g.,
termites, protozoa), while other bacteria bring about
transformations of ammonia to nitrate, and of nitrate
to N2 or other nitrogen gases. Many bacteria and fungi
degrade organic matter, releasing fixed nitrogen for
reuse by other organisms. All these processes
contribute to the nitrogen cycle.
• Iron
• Iron is necessary for photosynthesis and is
present as an enzyme cofactor in plants.
Iron deficiency can result in interveinal chlorosis
and necrosis. Iron is not a structural part of
chlorophyll but very much essential for its
synthesis. Copper deficiency can be responsible
for promoting an iron deficiency. It helps in the
electron transport of plant.
The two phases in the photosynthesis
LIGHT REACTION
Dark Reaction
 Respiration
• Through photosynthesis, plants transform sunlight
into potential energy in the form of the chemical
bonds of carbohydrate molecules. However, to use
that stored energy to power their essential life
processes – from growth and reproduction to
healing damaged structures – plants must convert
it into a usable form. That conversion takes place
via cellular respiration, a major biochemical
pathway also found in animals and other
organisms.
• C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6O2 (oxygen) --> 6CO2 (carbon dioxide) +
6H2O (water) + 38 ATP (energy)
• Pathways of Plant Respiration
• Glycolysis serves as the first step in respiration and doesn’t
require oxygen. It takes place in the cell's cytoplasm and
produces a small amount of ATP and pyruvic acid. This pyruvate
then enters the inner membrane of the mitochondrion for the
second phase of aerobic respiration – the Krebs cycle, also
known as the citric acid cycle or tricarboxylic acid (TCA)
pathway, which encompasses a series of chemical reactions
that release electrons and carbon dioxide. Finally, the electrons
are freed during the Krebs cycle enter the electron-transport
chain, which releases energy used in a culminating oxidative-
phosphorylation reaction to create ATP.
• Glycolysis
• During this Step Glycose is convert into
pyruvic acid in the cell cytoplasm
• Krebs Acid Cycle or (TCA)
• The ATP is generated after ETC
 • Growth and plant growth regulators
• 1-Growth
• What is growth?
• *Growth is a complex phenomenon.
• *Growth is one of the basic attributes of the living
organism. It exhibits a net gain of a successful or
positive metabolism.
• *Plants continue to grow indefinitely.
• Definition of growth:-
• 1*Growth is defined as: A permanent, irreversible an
increase in size (Length or volume) of a cell, organ or
whole organism (plant) usually accompanied by an
increase in dry weight associated with development.
• 2*Growth can also be defined as a process in which,
there is change in the form and irreversible increase in
size (Length or volume) and weight by means of cell
division, cell enlargement, and cell differentiation.
• Differentiation: -is the change in form and physiological
activity. It is a process of cellular specialization. A new
pattern of growth. It may be defined as a process in
which there is establishment of localized in metabolic and
biochemical activities and in structural organization.
• *Characteristics (aspects) associated with growth:
• *What are features associated with growth?
• One or more of the following: -
• 1- Increase in the number of cells.
• 2- Increase in protoplasm quantity (weight).
• 3- Increase of cell volume or whole plant organs.
• 4- Increase in some cell components .e.g. number
and volume of chloroplasts and mitochondria and
number of vacuoles. Also change too much in
shape and size.
 • Stages of growth
• Plant growth is dependent upon the formation, enlargement,
and maturation or differentiation of cells into different types of
tissues. These processes of growth are accompanied by:
• 1- A permanent change in size.
• 2- And increase in dry weight of the growing organs.
• What happens when plant cell growth occurs?
• Phases (stages) of plant cell growth: -
• There are 3 main stages (phases) e.g.
• 1- Cell division. In this stage the plant multiplied the number of
cells (one cell became two cells)
• 2- Cell elongation. In this stage the cell increase in length and
cell became more elastic and plant increase in length 3-
Cell differentiation. In this stage the cell became differentiated
to any kind of cell in the plant.
 • Growth Regions in plants: -
• -Plant growth is confined only to apical meristem.
• (Primary meristem in apices of root and shoot, and secondary
meristems i.e. cambium).
• -New cells and tissues produced due to the activity of meristems
develop into various organs depending on:
• 1- Internal factors (e.g. 1-Genetical factors. 2- Hormonal factors.
• 3-Nutritional balance)
• 2-External factors.
• Growth cycle
• Life-cycle of annual plants: -
• 1- Seed formation stage.
• 2- Seed germination stage.
• 3- Vegetative growth stage.
• 4- Reproductive growth stage (flowering and fruiting stage).
• 5- Death.
 Stages of plant growth
• Seed formation stage
• Germination stage
• Vegetative Growth stage
• Flowering and reproductive stage
• The curve can be shown appearing slowly
along the line and stabilizing.
• During the initial stage, i.e., during the lag
phase, the rate of plant growth is slow. Rate of
growth then increases rapidly during the
exponential phase. After some time the
growth rate slowly decreases due to limitation
of nutrients. This phase constitutes the
stationary phase.
• We all know that plants need light, water, oxygen
and nutrition to grow and develop. All these
qualify as extrinsic factors. While extrinsic factors
are important, did you know that plant growth
depends on intrinsic factors too? They can be
intracellular genes or intercellular chemicals.
These chemicals are called Plant Growth
Regulators. Let’s learn about them in more detail.
• Plant growth regulators (substances)
• Phytohormones.
• Plant hormones or Growth hormones.
• Define: -
• Plant Growth Regulators are defined as small, simple chemicals
produced naturally by plants to regulate their growth and
development.
• Plant hormones as an organic substance produced naturally in
the higher plants, that controlled growth or other physiological
functions in small amount, at a site remote from its place of
production.
• Plant hormones or Phytohormones: They are produced by plants
which in low concentration regulate a physiological plant
process. Hormones usually move within plant from a site of
production (their synthesis) to site of action.
• Plant Growth Regulators can be of a diverse
chemical composition such as gases (ethylene),
terpenes (gibberellic acid) or carotenoid derivates
(abscisic acid) . They are also referred to as plant
growth substances, phytohormones or plant
hormones. Based on their action, they are broadly
classified as follows:
• A: There are Four classes of Phytohormones: -
• A) Growth promoters:-
• Plant Growth Promoters – They promote cell
division, cell enlargement, flowering, fruiting and
seed formation. Examples are
• 1- Auxins. 2- Gibberellins. 3- Cytokinins.
• B) Growth inhibitors:-
• Plant Growth Inhibitors – These chemicals inhibit
growth and promote dormancy and abscission in
plants. An example
• 1- Abscisic acid. 2- Ethylene.
• C) Non-traditional plant growth regulators:-
• 1- Jasmonic acid. 2- Brassinosteroides.
• 3- Polyamines.
• 4- Salicylic acid. …………etc
• D) Growth retardant:
• Paclopetrazole pp333
• All plant growth regulators were discovered
accidentally. Let’s take a detailed look at each
regulator and learn about it more closely:
• Phytohormones possess following
characteristics:-
• 1- They are usually produced at the tip of roots,
stems and leaves.
• 2- The transfer of hormones from producing part
to other parts takes place through phloem.
• 3- They are required in traces amount.
• 4- All hormones are organic in nature.
• 5- Their growth promoting action occurs only
when they are used in low concentration (in
definite quantity).
• in summary, one or the other plant growth regulator

influences every phase of growth or development in

plants. These roles could be individualistic or synergistic;

promoting or inhibiting. Additionally, more than one

regulator can act on any given life event in a plant. Along

with genes and extrinsic factors, plant growth regulators

play critical roles in plant growth and development.

Factors like temperature and light affect plant growth

events (vernalization) via plant growth regulators.