Theoretical and practical approaches to the genetic specificity of mineral nutrition of plants

Summary Mineral nutrition of plants is one of the most important factors controlling biomass production. However, the efficiency of utilizing certain elements of mineral nutrition in biomass production is highly related to the genetic specificity of plants. The present paper deals with problems and former results regarding plant mineral nutrition presented from the genetic aspects. Particular attention has been devoted to the increased efficiency of using both the natural fertility of soils and mineral fertilizers by creating and utilizing suitable cultivars and hybrids, increased efficiency of using mineral nutrients under certain ecological conditions, plant-specific role of microorganisms in enriching soil with nitrogen and soluble forms of other elements, role of genetic specificity of mineral nutrition in plants in solving the problems of environmental pollution, principles of evaluating the genetic specificity of mineral nutrition in plants, genotype features influencing uptake of mineral nutrients, criteria for evaluating the genetic specificity of mineral nutrition of plants, and also to the methods for selecting genotypes for specific soil types, and mineral nutrition.