Responses of root architecture development to low phosphorus availability: a review.

Background: Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for plant growth and development but it is often a limiting nutrient in soils. Hence, P acquisition from soil by plant roots is a subject of considerable interest in agriculture, ecology and plant root biology. Root architecture, with its shape and structured development, can be considered as an evolutionary response to scarcity of resources.

[Effects of elevated CO2 concentration on the quality of agricultural products: a review].

The increasing concentration of atmospheric CO2 and the nutritional quality of human diets are the two important issues we are facing. At present, the atmospheric CO2 concentration is about 380 micromol mol(-1), and to be reached 550 micromol mol(-1) by 2050. A great deal of researches indicated that the quality of agricultural products is not only determined by inherited genes, but also affected by the crop growth environmental conditions.