Progress and expectation of the research on plant K efficiency and its evaluation
植物钾效率及其评价的研究进展与展望

The process of potassium uptake and utilization in plants is very complex. Recently, much work has been done on the research of mechanism of plant high K use efficiency and great positive results on plant K efficiency and its evaluation have obtained. This paper briefly summarized the concepts, differences and physiological mechanism of plant K use efficiency. The research reports on soil potassium sink, root characteristics, root exudates and microorganism, potassium translocation and relocation at both cellular and plant levels, substitution of other ions to K+, harvest index and some relative new results in the field of molecule biology has also been reviewed. Additionally some indices of K use efficiency and some related problems in using the indices are discussed as well.