Assimilation of Inorganic Nutrients

This chapter outlines the primary reactions through which major nutrients, namely nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphate, are assimilated and discusses the organic products of these reactions. It emphasizes the physiological implications of the required energy expenditures and introduces the topic of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. It also considers nutrient assimilation as the often energy-requiring process by which plants incorporate inorganic nutrients into the carbon constituents necessary for growth and development. The chapter highlights the carbon skeletons for amino acids that derive from intermediates of glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. It explains how sulfate is mainly assimilated in leaves and involves subcellular compartments of cytosol, chloroplast, and mitochondria.