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Peer-reviewedCC BYPlant Stress

Decoding phosphate starvation in plants: local, internal and systemic signaling

  • Ghalia Bouaoui1
  • Abdussabur Muktar Kaleh2
  • Abdallah Oukarroum3
  1. 1Plant Stress Physiology Laboratory, AgroBioSciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, 43150, Morocco; Corresponding author.
  2. 2Plant Stress Physiology Laboratory, AgroBioSciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, 43150, Morocco; Center for Sustainable Soil Science (C3S), College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, BenGuerir, 43150, Morocco
  3. 3Plant Stress Physiology Laboratory, AgroBioSciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, 43150, Morocco
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Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant growth. However, low inorganic phosphate (Pi) alters plant development and activates a suite of adaptive responses known as phosphate-starvation responses (PSRs). Plants perceive Pi at three distinct levels: external Pi at the root surface, internal Pi status within the cell, and the Pi status of distant organs communicated through the vasculature. This review keeps these levels separate throughout. It first defines what phosphorus limitation means quantitatively, distinguishing deficiency from starvation. It then examines the phenotypic adjustments that low Pi induces in roots and shoots, before treating each of the three sensing levels in turn: local sensing at the root apex, intracellular sensing through inositol pyrophosphates and SPX-domain proteins acting on PHR-family transcription factors, and long-distance signaling through xylem Pi transport, phloem-mobile microRNAs and carbon signals. Transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulation are treated as a separate layer, and hormones as integrators acting across all these levels. Finally, this review assesses how far this knowledge transfers from Arabidopsis to crops, distinguishing phosphorus acquisition from utilization efficiency and identifying which mechanisms are conserved, which are model-specific and which remain untested in other crops.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{bouaoui2026decoding,
  title = {{Decoding phosphate starvation in plants: local, internal and systemic signaling}},
  author = {Ghalia Bouaoui and Abdussabur Muktar Kaleh and Abdallah Oukarroum},
  journal = {Plant Stress},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.stress.2026.101592},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stress.2026.101592},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Decoding phosphate starvation in plants: local, internal and systemic signaling
AU  - Ghalia Bouaoui
AU  - Abdussabur Muktar Kaleh
AU  - Abdallah Oukarroum
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Plant Stress
DO  - 10.1016/j.stress.2026.101592
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stress.2026.101592
AB  - Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant growth. However, low inorganic phosphate (Pi) alters plant development and activates a suite of adaptive responses known as phosphate-starvation responses (PSRs). Plants perceive Pi at three distinct levels: external Pi at the root surface, internal Pi status within the cell, and the Pi status of distant organs communicated through the vasculature. This review keeps these levels separate throughout. It first defines what phosphorus limitation means quantitatively, distinguishing deficiency from starvation. It then examines the phenotypic adjustments that low Pi induces in roots and shoots, before treating each of the three sensing levels in turn: local sensing at the root apex, intracellular sensing through inositol pyrophosphates and SPX-domain proteins acting on PHR-family transcription factors, and long-distance signaling through xylem Pi transport, phloem-mobile microRNAs and carbon signals. Transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulation are treated as a separate layer, and hormones as integrators acting across all these levels. Finally, this review assesses how far this knowledge transfers from Arabidopsis to crops, distinguishing phosphorus acquisition from utilization efficiency and identifying which mechanisms are conserved, which are model-specific and which remain untested in other crops.
SN  - 2667-064X
ER  -