English: Steps involved in maintaining pH and ioninc balance during w:Nitrate assimilation. Different plants use different different pathways to different levels. Castor, soya bean and tomato each have different strategies. Tomatoes take in a lot of K⁺ and accumulate salts in their vacuoles, castor reduces nitrate in the roots to a large extent and excretes the resulting alkali. Soy bean moves a large amount of malate to the roots where it is converted to alkali while the potassium is recirculated.

References: Touraine, Bruno; Bertrand Muller, Claude Grignon (1992-07-01). "Effect of Phloem-Translocated Malate on NO3− Uptake by Roots of Intact Soybean Plants". Plant Physiology 99 (3): 1118–1123. DOI:10.1104/pp.99.3.1118. ISSN 1532-2548 0032-0889, 1532-2548. Retrieved on 2013-02-19.

Kirkby, Ernest A.; Alistair H. Knight (1977-09-01). "Influence of the Level of Nitrate Nutrition on Ion Uptake and Assimilation, Organic Acid Accumulation, and Cation-Anion Balance in Whole Tomato Plants". Plant Physiology 60 (3): 349–353. DOI:10.1104/pp.60.3.349. ISSN 1532-2548 0032-0889, 1532-2548. Retrieved on 2013-02-19.

van Beusichem, Marinus L.; Robert Baas, Ernest A. Kirkby, Jacob A. Nelemans (1985-08). "Intracellular pH Regulation during NO3− Assimilation in Shoot and Roots of Ricinus communis". Plant Physiology 78 (4): 768–773. PMID 16664322. PMC: 1064819. ISSN 0032-0889. Retrieved on 2013-02-19.