Nitrate uptake by plant rootsThis paper is one of a selection published in a Special Issue comprising papers presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists (CSPP) held at the University of Ottawa, Ontario, in June 2008.

Nitrate is a major source of N for plant growth, particularly under aerobic agricultural conditions. This nutrient is absorbed from soil solution by both high-affinity and low-affinity transport systems that were first defined physiologically and subsequently by molecular genetic means. This minireview presents an abbreviated history of developments in plant inorganic ion uptake, the physiology of nitrate uptake, and recent developments in the molecular genetic characterization of nitrate transport systems.