Heavy Metals In Plants

Heavy metal phytotoxicity has been known for more than a century. However, research in the past years has confirmed the immense damage by metal pollution to plants, the soil and ultimately to humans. By reviewing both field and laboratory work, this book deals with the various functional and ecological aspects of heavy metal stress on plants and outlines the scope for future research and the possibilities for remediation.

Trace metals occur as natural constituents of the earth's crust, and are ever present constituents of soils, natural waters and living matter. The biological significance of this disparate assemblage of elements has gradually been uncovered during the twentieth century; the resultant picture is one of ever-increasing complexity. Several of these elements have been demonstrated to be essential to the functions of living organisms, others appear to only interact with living matter in a toxic manner, whilst an ever-decreasing number do not fall conveniently into either category. When the interactions between trace metals and plants are considered, one must take full account of the known chemical properties of each element. Consideration must be given to differences in chemical reactivity, solubility and to interactions with other inorganic and organic molecules. A clear understanding of the basic chemical properties of an element of interest is an essential pre-requisite to any subsequent consideration of its biological significance. Due consideration to basic chemical considerations is a theme which runs through the collection of chapters in both volumes.

In recent years, heavy metals have been widely used in agricultural, chemical, domestic, and technological applications, causing environmental and soil contaminations. Heavy metals enter the plant system through soil or via the atmosphere, and can accumulate, affecting physiological processes, plant growth, yield, and human health if heavy metals are stored in edible tissues. Understanding the regulation mechanisms of plant heavy metals accumulation and partitioning is important to improve the safety of the food chain. In this Special Issue book, a total of 19 articles were included; four reviews covering phytoremediation, manganese phytotoxicity in plants, the effect of cadmium on plant development, the genetic characteristics of Cd accumulation, and the research status of genes and QTLs in rice, respectively, as well as fifteen original research articles, mainly regarding the impact of cadmium on plants. Cadmium was therefore the predominant topic of this Special Issue, increasing the attention of the research community on the negative impacts determined by cadmium or cadmium associated with other heavy metals. The articles have highlighted a great genetic variability, suggesting different possibilities for accumulation, translocation and the reduction or control of heavy metal toxicity in plants.

This title focuses on the many aspects of the interaction between plants and heavy metals. Not only it describes the effects of heavy metal toxicity on the plant cell and its organs but it also examines the mechanisms that plants adopt to scavenge heavy metals at cellular, physiological, and metabolic level. Plants and Heavy Metals also analyses Hyperaccumulator plants and shows their potential role in phytoremediation technologies in light of the recent research results.

This book focuses on the menace of metal pollution and its impact on plants, particularly food grains, pulse and vegetable plants covering morphological, anatomical, physiological and biochemical aspects. It includes comparative studies among metal hyper-accumulators (metallophytes) and non-accumulators including exogenous hormonal alleviation in them due to metal stress. Low dose stimulation effects are also reviewed. The most significant feature of the book is its extensive coverage of genomics, metabolomics, ionomics, proteomics and transcriptomics in metal non-hyper-accumulators and hyper-accumulators. Being an edited volume, the book incorporates a variety of research perspectives, enhancing the existing knowledge about metal pollution and points to newer avenues to be researched.

Plant Metal Interaction: Emerging Remediation Techniques covers different heavy metals and their effect on soils and plants, along with the remediation techniques currently available. As cultivable land is declining day-by-day as a result of increased metals in our soil and water, there is an urgent need to remediate these effects. This multi-contributed book is divided into four sections covering the whole of plant metal interactions, including heavy metals, approaches to alleviate heavy metal stress, microbial approaches to remove heavy metals, and phytoremediation. Provides an overview of the effect of different heavy metals on growth, biochemical reactions, and physiology of various plants Serves as a reference guide for available techniques, challenges, and possible solutions in heavy metal remediation Covers sustainable technologies in uptake and removal of heavy metals

Plants possess a range of potential cellular mechanisms that may be involved in the detoxification of heavy metals and thus tolerance to metal stress. Metal toxicity causes multiple direct and indirect effects in plants that concern practically all physiological functions. The main purpose of this book is to present comprehensive and concise information on recent advances in the field of metal transport and how genetic diversity affects heavy metal transport in plants. Other key futures of the book are related to metal toxicity and detoxification mechanisms, biochemical tools for HM remediation processes, molecular mechanisms for HM detoxification, how metallomics and metalloproteomics are affected by heavy metal stress in plants, and the role of ROS metabolism in the alleviation of heavy metals. Some chapters also focus on recent developments in the field of phytoremediation. Overall the book presents in-depth information and the most essential advances in the field of heavy metal toxicity in plants in recent years.

1. General introduction, R.R. Brooks; 2. Phytochemistry of hyperaccumulators, R.R. Brooks; 3. Geobotany and hyperaccumulators, R.R. Brooks; 4. Biogeochemistry and hyperaccumulators, R.R. Brooks; 5. Seaweeds as hyperaccumulators, C.E. Dunn; 6. Hyperaccumulation of metals by prokaryotic microorganisms including blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), T.J. Beveridge; 7. Phytoarcheology and hyperaccumulators, R.R. Brooks; 8. Hyperaccumulation as a plant defensive strategy, R.S. Boyd; 9. Aquatic phytoremediation by accumulator plants, R.R. Brooks and B.H. Robinson; 10. Revegetation and stabilisation of mine dumps and other degraded terrain, R.R. Brooks, A. Chiarucci and T. Jaffre; 11. Fertilisation of hyperaccumulators to enhance their potential for phytoremediation and phytomining, F.A. Bennett, E.K. Tyler, R.R. Brooks, P.E.H. Gregg and R.B. Stewart; 12. Phytoextraction for soil remediation, S.P. McGrath; 13. Phytoremediation by volatilisation, R.R. Brooks 14. A pioneering study of the potential of phytomining for nickel, L.J. Nicks and M.F. Chambers; 15. The potential use of hyperaccumulators and other plants for phytomining, R.R. Brooks and B.H. Robinson.