Sulfur Metabolism in Plants

Stanislav Kopriva, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK

Published online: July 2007

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020126

Sulfur is an essential element found in plants in a variety of compounds with many different functions. Sulfur nutrition is important for plant defence against biotic and abiotic stress and for the quality of crops.

Keywords: sulfate assimilation; cysteine; glutathione; stress; nutrition

Figure 1. Biological transformations of sulfur.
Figure 2. Pathways of sulfur metabolism in plants and algae. (a) Assimilatory sulfate reduction and methionine biosynthesis. (b) Biosynthesis of DMSP in algae and activated methyl cycle.
Figure 3. The ascorbate–glutathione cycle. AA, ascorbate; MDHA, monodehydroascorbate; DHA, dehydroascorbate; APX, ascorbate peroxidise; MDHAR, monodehydroascorbate reductase; DHAR, dehydroascorbate reductase; GR, glutathione reductase.
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 References
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 Further Reading
    book Abrol YP and Ahmad A (2003) Sulphur in Plants. Dodrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
    Hawkesford MJ (2004) Sulphur metabolism in plants – Integrating complexity. Special issue of Journal of Experimental Botany 55: 1765–1962.
    book Hawkesford MJ and De Kok LJ (2007) Sulfur in Plants – An Ecological Perspective. Dordrecht: Springer.
    Hell R and Leustek T (2005) Sulfur metabolism in plants and algae – a case study for an integrative scientific approach. Special issue of Photosynthesis Research 86: 297–508.

Related Sub-Topics:

Plant Nutrition | Plant Stress Physiology
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Article Title: Sulfur Metabolism in Plants
 
How to Cite close
Kopriva, Stanislav(Jul 2007) Sulfur Metabolism in Plants. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020126]