Plant Nutrition

The “Plant Nutrition” Section of the journal Plants publishes original research and timely review articles on all aspects related to plant nutrition, an interdisciplinary field in the area of the plant sciences and nutritional sciences.

From a plant standpoint, plants, as other organisms, require essential and non-essential nutrients in abundance for proper growth and development. The progresses of nutrition uptake, transport, metabolism and accumulation must be subtly controlled and regulated to avoid deficiency and toxicity and to achieve an exquisite equilibrium. On the other hand, plants make substantial food sources for human and animals. Starch, proteins, fats, fiber and other phytochemicals and metabolites from plants constitute an important source of human dietary nutrients directly (as food) or indirectly (as feedstuff or substrate for fermentation).

The Section aims to increase our knowledge on all areas associated with all aspects of nutritional sciences of plants (and other photoautotrophs, including lichens, algae and cyanobacteria). The “Plant Nutrition” Section welcomes basic and applied research manuscripts on topics including but not limited to:

• Nutrient uptake, metabolism, accumulation and storage;
• Impact of micro- and macronutrients on plant growth, yield, resistance;
• Nutrient homeostasis;
• Nutrient deficiency and toxicity;
• Plant adaptation and acclimation to nutrition shortage or excess;
• CO₂;
• Nitrogen and nitrogen fixation;
• Phosphorous;
• Mineral nutrition (potassium, sulfur, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, silicon, boron, molybdenum, nickel, etc.);
• Nutrient cycling;
• Nutrient exchange and mycorrhizal symbiosis;
• Metabolic fluxes of nutrients;
• Re-localization of nutrients in plant tissues;
• Physiological, metabolic, and transcriptomic view of plant nutrition;
• Crop fertilization and overfertilization;
• Crop quality;
• Nutrition of plants in protected cultivation;
• Greenhouse, soilless culture artificial light and hydroponics;
• Plant metabolism and metabolites;
• Foods of plant sources;
• Bioavailability of plant nutrients;
• Novel plant food sources;
• Phytonutrients for human health;
• Plant foods for human and animal health; 

Accordingly, the “Plant Nutrition” Section is interested in articles; reviews; perspectives; communications; opinions; proceedings; commentaries, etc. All submitted manuscripts will be subject to a thorough peer-reviewing process.