Advances in genetic regulation mechanism of plant tolerance to phosphorus deficiency

Although very high total phosphorus (P) content in soils, the soil available P for plants is often very low. Hence, lack of available P in soils has been one of the limitation factors in agricultural production. Because of important roles for P in plant growth and development, a series of mechanisms are involved in plant adaptation in response to low P stress. The wide usage of molecular biological technology in the research of plant nutrition leads to the discovery of a number of genes involved in plant P homeostasis, such as P transporters, transcriptional factors, noncoding RNA, P-starvationinduced (PSI) genes. These genes interact with each other to form a complex network for genetic regulation in plant tolerance to low P stress. Moreover, quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis is often used to detect genetic loci controlling plant P efficiency in different species. All of these results can be used to understand genetic mechanism in plant tolerance to P deficiency. This paper makes a brief review on advances in genetic regulation of plant tolerance to low P stress.