Molecular physiological mechanism and regulation of plant responses to iron deficiency stress

Iron is an essential micronutrient for plant growth and development. Although iron is abundant in soil, its bioavailability is very low, especially in alkaline calcareous soils, where high pH and high bicarbonate levels severely reduce the availability of iron in the soil. Therefore, it has become a hot topic in this field that how to effectively improve the plant’s utilization efficiency of iron and enhance the plant’s response to iron deficiency. This article focused on two different iron uptake mechanisms in plants and reaction of plants in response to iron deficiency stress, and reviewed the presently discovered genes involved in the regulation of iron deficiency in plants and elaborated the newly discovered NRAMP genes related to phagocytosis mechanism. The paper also introduced a number of related signals induced by iron deficiency, including plant hormones, gas signaling molecules and microRNAs, in addition, many approaches to improve the bioavailability of iron in plants and thus effectively alleviate iron deficiency stress were also proposed, including the transduction of genes related to iron absorption, the control of factors related to iron uptake, and the implementation of various agronomic measures. Finally, the article made a preliminary prospect on the future research directions of plant phagocytosis mechanism, iron deficiency induction signal and new ways to improve plant iron nutrition.