Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
R
EGULATION OF
Fe
D
EFICIENCY
R
ESPONSES IN
WT
P
EA AND
S
OME OF
I
TS
M
UTANTS
(
BRZ
AND
DGL
)
Francisco Javier Romera
1
, Carlos Lucena
1
, María José
García
2
, Esteban Alcántara
1
and Rafael Pérez-Vicente
2
1
Department of Agronomy. Edificio Celestino Mutis (C-4),
Campus of Rabanales, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
2
Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology.
Edificio Celestino Mutis (C-4), Campus of Rabanales,
University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
A
BSTRACT
Iron (Fe) participates in many essential plant functions, such as
photosynthesis, respiration and nitrogen metabolism, including
nodulation of legume plants. It is abundant in most soils but its
availability is low, especially in calcareous soils (more than 30% of
arable soils), where its solubility is very low and is frequent the incidence
of Fe chlorosis. In these soils, one of the more important factors causing
Fe chlorosis is bicarbonate while hypoxia, due to flooding or other
causes, can aggravate its negative effects. According to the World Health
Organization, the most common nutritional disorder in humans is Fe
