Regulation of sulfate uptake and assimilation--the same or not the same?

Plant take up the essential nutrient sulfur as sulfate from the soil, reduce it, and assimilate into bioorganic compounds, with cysteine being the first product. Both sulfate uptake and assimilation are highly regulated by the demand for the reduced sulfur, by availability of nutrients, and by environmental conditions. In the last decade, great progress has been achieved in dissecting the regulation of sulfur metabolism. Sulfate uptake and reduction of activated sulfate, adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (APS), to sulfite by APS reductase appear to be the key regulatory steps. Here, we review the current knowledge on regulation of these processes, with special attention given to similarities and differences.