Sulfur is an essential nutrient—along with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—for plant growth development. mostly supplied to crops through soil fertilizers. However, chemical fertilizers are overused increase crop yields despite environmental threats. The proper use of positively affects yield increase. Regardless, residues from misuse threaten not only the ecosystem, but also marine ecosyst...

Polysulfides formed through the breakdown of elemental sulfur or other sulfur compounds were found to be reduced to H(2)S by the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium Pyrococcus furiosus during growth. Metabolism of polysulfides by the organism was dissimilatory, as no incorporation of S-labeled elemental sulfur was detected. However, [S]cysteine and [S]methionine were incorporated into cellular pr...

Long-term soil and ecosystem development involves predictable changes in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability and limitation, but far less is known about comparable changes in sulfur (S) despite its importance as an essential plant macronutrient and component of soil organic matter. We used a combination of elemental analysis, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, hydrolytic enzyme assays, and...

Phosphorus (P) is one of the major essential macronutrient for plant growth. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PCB) is a group of heterotrophic bacteria capable of solubilizing organic and inorganic phosphorus from insoluble compounds, releasing phosphate available for plant uptake. In this study endophytic bacteria were isolated form nodules of French bean grown in different intercropping syste...

Selenium (Se) is an essential nutrient for many organisms, but also toxic at higher levels. While certain algae require Se to make selenoproteins, no such requirement has been shown for higher plants. Still, plants readily take up and assimilate Se using sulfur (S) transporters and biochemical pathways, and can also volatilize methylated Se. Some plants can even hyperaccumulate Se to levels aro...

The green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum is a strict anaerobe and an obligate photoautotroph. On the basis of sequence similarity with known enzymes or sequence motifs, nine open reading frames encoding putative enzymes of carotenoid biosynthesis were identified in the genome sequence of C. tepidum, and all nine genes were inactivated. Analysis of the carotenoid composition in the resultin...

All plants must obtain a number of inorganic mineral elements from their environment to ensure successful growth and development of both vegetative and reproductive tissues. These minerals serve numerous functions: as structural components in macromolecules, as cofactors in enzymatic reactions, as osmotic solutes needed tomaintain proper water potential, or as ionized species to provide charge ...

K(+) is an essential macronutrient required by plants to complete their life cycle. It fulfills important functions and it is widely used as a fertilizer to increase crop production. Thus, the identification of the systems involved in K(+) acquisition by plants has always been a research goal as it may eventually produce molecular tools to enhance crop productivity further. This review is focus...

Cysteine occupies a central position in plant metabolism because it is a reduced sulfur donor molecule involved in the synthesis of essential biomolecules and defense compounds. Moreover, cysteine per se and its derivative molecules play roles in the redox signaling of processes occurring in various cellular compartments. Cysteine is synthesized during the sulfate assimilation pathway via the i...