This proceedings volume contains the invited and a selection of the contributed papers of the 8th International Workshop on Sulfur Metabolism in Higher Plants, which was held at Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, University of Melbourne, Water Street, Creswick, Victoria 3363, Australia from November 22-27, 2010. Content of the volume shows that the understanding of sulfur metabolism in plants and the interaction of the environment are rapidly progressing.

This volume covers various aspects of the regulation of sulfate uptake and assimilation in plants, from a cellular to a whole plant level, and additionally emphasizes interactions with other minerals. Moreover the significance of sulfur metabolism in biotic and abiotic stress responses, in food security and quality, and in relation to interactions with global change factors is discussed in detail.

From the Contents:
Sulfate uptake and assimilation – whole plant regulation.- Molecular and cellular regulation of sulfate transport and assimilation.- Manipulating the sulfur composition of seeds.- Regulation of expression of sulfate transporters and APS reductase in leaf tissue of Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis).- Response of amino acid metabolism to sulfur starvation in Synechocystis sp. PCC 680.- Regulation of the uptake of sulfate by Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis) at various sulfate concentrations in the root environment.- Characterization of adenosine 5'- phosphosulfate kinase (APSK) genes from higher plants.-  Subcellular compartmentation of cysteine synthesis in plants – one step more.- Preliminary characteristics of a tobacco gene down-regulated by sulfur deprivation and encoding a Cys-rich protein.- Sulfate uptake and cysteine and GSH contents are increased by 5-aminolevulinic acid in Arabidopsis thaliana.- Partitioning of sulfur between primary and secondary metabolism.- Interaction between atmospheric and pedospheric sulfur nutrition in Eucalyptus camaldulensis.- Comparative analysis of amino acids from Arabidopsis wild type and mutant sir1-1 leaves by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).- Homomeric interaction of the STAS domain in Sultr1;2.- Simultaneous determination of sulfur metabolites in plant tissue by LC-ESI-MS/MS.- Exploiting plant response to mineral ions to identify response specificity: overlapping transcriptome responses to sulfate, selenate and iron.- Regulation of iron-sulfur cluster formation in plastids.- Plant accumulation of sulfur’s sister element selenium - potential applications and ecological implications.- Identification and sequence analysis of sulfate/selenate transporters in selenium hyper- and non-accumulating Astragalus plant species.- Expression offerritins ZmFer1 and ZmFer2 genes in shoots and roots of S-deprived young maize plants.- Molybdate affects sulfate acquisition in Brassica juncea plants.- Impact of enhanced copper levels and sulfate deprivation on the uptake and metabolism of sulfate in Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis).