HIGHER PLANTS ARE AUTOTROPHIC ORGANISMS that can synthesize their organic molecular components out of inorganic nutrients obtained from their surroundings. For many mineral nutrients, this process involves absorption from the soil by the roots (see Chapter 5) and incorporation into the organic compounds that are essential for growth and development. This incorporation of mineral nutrients into organic substances such as pigments, enzyme cofactors, lipids, nucleic acids, and amino acids is termed nutrient assimilation
