text: Although there is sufficient iron in most soils for plant growth, plant iron deficiency is a problem in calcareous soil, due to the low solubility of iron(III) hydroxide. Calcareous soil accounts for 30% of the world's farmland. Under such conditions graminaceous plants (grasses, cereals and rice) secrete phytosiderophores into the soil, a typical example being deoxymugineic acid. Phytosiderophores have a different structure to those of fungal and bacterial siderophores having two α-aminocarboxylate binding centres, together with a single α-hydroxycarboxylate unit. This latter bidentate function provides phytosiderophores with a high selectivity for iron(III). When grown in an iron -deficient soil, roots of graminaceous plants secrete siderophores into the rhizosphere. On scavenging iron(III) the iron–phytosiderophore complex is transported across the cytoplasmic membrane using a proton symport mechanism. The iron(III) complex is then reduced to iron(II) and the iron is transferred to nicotianamine, which although very similar to the phytosiderophores is selective for iron(II) and is not secreted by the roots. Nicotianamine translocates iron in phloem to all plant parts.