(İstanbul Kültür Üniversitesi, 2007-03) Vardar, Filiz; Ünal, Meral
Aluminum (Al) is the major element in the soil and
exists as a stable complex with oxygen and silicate.
When the soil pH is below 5, Al is solubilized in the
soil water and absorbed by plant roots. Absorbed
Al inhibits root elongation severely within hours. Al
toxicity is a very important limitation to worldwide
crop production, because 50% of the world’s
potentially arable lands are acidic. Thus, many
research has been conducted to understand the
mechanism of Al toxicity and resistance which is
important for stable food production in future. Al
resistance can be achieved by mechanisms that
facilitate Al exclusion from the root apex and/or by
mechanisms that confer the ability of plants to
tolerate Al in the plant symplasm. However, despite
intense research efforts, there are many aspects of
Al toxicity and resistance remain unclear. In this
review, Al toxicity and resistance mechanisms are
described with the physiological and molecular
basis.
