Phosphorus is one of the essential mineral elements required for plant growth and development. Soluble phosphorus in soil is prone to immobilization, which reduces its bioavailability and thereby triggers low-phosphorus stress in plants. To adapt to low-phosphorus environments, plants have evolved multilayered adaptive strategies during long-term evolution. At the morphological and physiological levels, plants enhance phosphorus uptake efficiency by remodeling root system architecture and secreting acid phosphatases and organic acids to mobilize insoluble phosphorus in the rhizosphere. At the molecular regulatory level, the phosphorus transporters, key transcription factors, miRNAs, as well as their regulatory networks and synergistic mechanisms underlying plant responses to low-phosphorus stress have been gradually elucidated, providing important theoretical support for further exploring the molecular basis of plant adaptation to low-phosphorus environments. In addition, the crosstalk between hormonal signaling pathways and nitrogen-phosphorus nutrients further participates in regulating phosphorus homeostasis in plants. This paper systematically reviews the research progress on adaptive mechanisms, core molecular regulatory pathways and related signaling networks in plants in response to low-phosphorus stress, aiming to provide a theoretical reference for improving plant phosphorus use efficiency, reducing excessive phosphate fertilizer application and alleviating environmental pollution.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.