ABSTRACT
Mineral elements in soil can affect human health in both beneficial and toxic ways. Soil provides essential elements required for human health through soil–crop–human continuum. On the other hand, when soil is contaminated by toxic elements, crops produced on these soils will threaten human health through food chain. Transfer of mineral elements including essential and toxic elements from soil to the edible parts is mediated by various different transporters. During last decade, great progresses have been made in identification of transporters for mineral elements, which are involved in uptake from soil by the roots, root-to-shoot translocation, distribution and redistribution to the edible parts. Transgenic approaches for breeding crops for human health have been made by knockout and overexpression of these transporters. This chapter discusses transporters for essential elements including iron and zinc and for toxic elements including cadmium and arsenic in rice, a staple food for half of world’s population.
