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Mechanism and Genes for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Accumulation in...
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Mechanism and Genes for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Accumulation in Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 24226

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Seongbin Hwang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Bioindustry and Bioresource Engineering, Plant Engineering Research Institute, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea
Interests: heavy metal stress/tolerance/accumulation; root growth inhibition by Cd/BPA/NP; phytoremediation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Heavy metal is very important in plants, as it is easily absorbed through essential element transporters to plants, and finally enters humans. Heavy metals are very toxic to plants, however, plants have been evolving to improve their metal tolerance capacity to survive in environments contaminated with heavy metals. Plants have developed diverse metal tolerance strategies, including lower accumulation (lower uptake and higher export), vacuolar sequestration, chelation, root to shoot translocation (xylem loading), reduction of metal-induced oxidative stress, chemical conversion to a less toxic form, etc. We have also learned novel mechanisms from metal hyper-accumulator and hyper-tolerant plants. We have been trying to identify new components involved in various plant stategies and to understand how these different strategies are interconnected. Our knowledge will contribute to the development of metal hypoaccumulating crops and phytoremediators, and thus to human health and well-being.

Prof. Seongbin Hwang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • heavy metal
  • tolerance
  • accumulation
  • sequestration
  • transporters
  • uptake
  • export
  • mechanism
  • genes

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2510 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contamination in Paddy Plants at the Northern Region of Malaysia Using ICPMS and Its Risk Assessment
by Nur Syahirah Zulkafflee, Nurul Adillah Mohd Redzuan, Jinap Selamat, Mohd Razi Ismail, Sarva Mangala Praveena and Ahmad Faizal Abdull Razis
Plants 2021, 10(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10010003 - 22 Dec 2020
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 9271
Abstract
Heavy metals from natural and anthropogenic sources accumulate in soil and plants and as a consequence represent important environmental contamination problems. Nevertheless, food safety issues and adverse health risks make this one of the most serious environmental issues. The aim of the present [...] Read more.
Heavy metals from natural and anthropogenic sources accumulate in soil and plants and as a consequence represent important environmental contamination problems. Nevertheless, food safety issues and adverse health risks make this one of the most serious environmental issues. The aim of the present study was to assess heavy metal contamination in the paddy plants from the northern area of Malaysia using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) and its risk assessment. In total, the heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, and Pb) of the samples of paddy plants harvested from Kedah areas were extracted using an acid digestion method, while the heavy metals for soil samples using ammonium acetate. The heavy metal concentrations were then analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The enrichment (EF) and translocation factors (TF) of heavy metals were calculated, and health risk assessment (HRA) was performed. The EF values for heavy metals from the soil to roots, roots to stems, stems to leaves, and stems to grains followed the order Cu > As > Cr > Cd > Pb, whereas Cr and Pb were characterized by greater TF values from stem to grain than the other elements. The average daily dose (ADD) for both children and adults is below the safe value intake for each of the studied elements. The combined hazard index (HI) of five elements was beyond the acceptable value (HI >1). The carcinogenic risk, as exemplified by lifetime cancer risk (LCR), indicated that single exposure to As or Cr, in both adults and children, was greater than 10−4. The total cancer risk (CRt) resulting from multiple exposure to carcinogenic elements exceeded the acceptable value (CRt >1 ×10−4) in both adults and children. Overall, exposure to heavy metals through rice consumption poses potential non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks to the local residents in the northern area; thus, regular monitoring of pollution in the area is crucial. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanism and Genes for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Accumulation in Plants)
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15 pages, 2057 KiB  
Article
Mechanism for Higher Tolerance to and Lower Accumulation of Arsenite in NtCyc07-Overexpressing Tobacco
by DongGwan Kim, Ramin Bahmani, Mahsa Modareszadeh and Seongbin Hwang
Plants 2020, 9(11), 1480; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9111480 - 3 Nov 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1887
Abstract
Arsenite [As(III)] is a highly toxic chemical to all organisms. Previously, we reported that the overexpression of NtCyc07 enhanced As(III) tolerance and reduced As(III) accumulation in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). To understand a mechanism for higher [...] Read more.
Arsenite [As(III)] is a highly toxic chemical to all organisms. Previously, we reported that the overexpression of NtCyc07 enhanced As(III) tolerance and reduced As(III) accumulation in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). To understand a mechanism for higher As(III) tolerance and lower As(III) accumulation in NtCyc07-overexpressing tobacco, we examined the expression levels of various putative As(III) transporters (aquaporin). The expressions of putative As(III) exporter NIP1;1, PIP1;1, 1;5, 2;1, 2;2, and 2;7 were enhanced, while the expressions of putative As(III) importer NIP3;1, 4;1, and XIP2;1 were decreased, contributing to the reduced accumulation of As(III) in NtCyc07-overexpressing tobacco. In addition, the levels of oxidative stress indicators (H2O2, superoxide and malondialdehyde) were lower, and the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase) were higher in NtCyc07-tobacco than in the control tobacco. This suggests that the lower oxidative stress in transgenic tobacco may be attributed to the higher activities of antioxidant enzymes and lower As(III) levels. Taken together, the overexpression of NtCyc07 enhances As(III) tolerance by reducing As(III) accumulation through modulation of expressions of putative As(III) transporters in tobacco. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanism and Genes for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Accumulation in Plants)
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15 pages, 1538 KiB  
Article
Morphological Responses and Gene Expression of Grain Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) Growing under Cd
by Veronika Lancíková, Marián Tomka, Jana Žiarovská, Ján Gažo and Andrea Hricová
Plants 2020, 9(5), 572; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9050572 - 30 Apr 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3123
Abstract
Phytoremediation efficiency depends on the ability of plants to accumulate, translocate and resist high levels of metals without symptoms of toxicity. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of grain amaranth for remediation of soils contaminated with Cd. Three grain amaranth varieties, [...] Read more.
Phytoremediation efficiency depends on the ability of plants to accumulate, translocate and resist high levels of metals without symptoms of toxicity. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of grain amaranth for remediation of soils contaminated with Cd. Three grain amaranth varieties, “Pribina” (A. cruentus), “Zobor” (A. hypochondriacus x A. hybridus) and Plainsman (A. hypochondriacus x A. hybridus) were tested under different level of Cd (0, 5, 10 and 15 mg/L) in a hydroponic experimental treatment. All could be classified as Cd excluders or Cd-hypertolerant varieties able to grow and accumulate significant amounts of Cd from the hydroponic solution, preferentially in the roots. Under the highest level of Cd exposure, qRT-PCR expression analysis of five stress-related genes was examined in above- and below-ground biomass. The results show that the Cd concentration significantly increased the mRNA level of chitinase 5 (Chit 5) in amaranth roots as the primary site of metal stress. The involvement of phytochelatin synthase (PCS1) in Cd detoxification is suggested. Based on our findings, we can conclude that variety “Pribina” is the most Cd-tolerant among three tested and can be expected to be used in the phytomanagement of Cd loaded soils as an effective phytostabiliser. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanism and Genes for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Accumulation in Plants)
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18 pages, 2411 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study of Growth, Cadmium Accumulation and Tolerance of Three Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Cultivars
by Shakir Ullah, Jafar Khan, Khizar Hayat, Ahmed Abdelfattah Elateeq, Uzma Salam, Bofan Yu, Yuehua Ma, Hongzheng Wang and Zhong-Hua Tang
Plants 2020, 9(3), 310; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9030310 - 1 Mar 2020
Cited by 48 | Viewed by 5175
Abstract
Trace metals (TM) contamination is a severe problem in the environment and produced an adverse effect on the productivity of crops. Cadmium (Cd) is a TM ranked seven among the top 20 pollutants due to its high toxicity and solubility in water, taken [...] Read more.
Trace metals (TM) contamination is a severe problem in the environment and produced an adverse effect on the productivity of crops. Cadmium (Cd) is a TM ranked seven among the top 20 pollutants due to its high toxicity and solubility in water, taken up by the plants and affects their growth and metabolism. In this study, we evaluated the growth, Cd accumulation and tolerance capacities of three chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars (NC234 (NC2), ICCV89310 (IC8) and ICCV89323-B (IC8-B)), subjected to two Cd concentrations (25 and 50 µM) in hydroponic culture. The toxicity of Cd reduced the plant height and fresh and dry biomass in all cultivars. The maximum reduction was observed at 50 µM of Cd. Compared with IC8-B, cultivars IC8 and NC2 exhibited better performance with high growth, biomass, root to shoot (R/S) ratio and water content under high Cd stress. To measure the accumulation of Cd in root and shoot, an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) was used. IC8 and NC2 had comparatively high Cd tolerance and accumulation ability (> 100 µg g−1 dry weight), with IC8 being more tolerant and accumulated higher Cd in shoot than NC2, while cultivar IC8-B was sensitive. Root accumulated more Cd than shoot in a dose-dependent manner. The bioconcentration factors (BCF) and bioaccumulation coefficients (BAC) were far higher than one (> 1) and increased with an increase in Cd concentrations, while the translocation factor (TF) was less than one (< 1), suggesting that all the three cultivars were unable to transfer Cd from the root to the shoot efficiently. Our results indicated that IC8 and NC2 proved to be resistant, while IC8-B showed sensitivity when exposed to high Cd stress (50 µM). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanism and Genes for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Accumulation in Plants)
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16 pages, 3854 KiB  
Article
SLIM1 Transcription Factor Promotes Sulfate Uptake and Distribution to Shoot, Along with Phytochelatin Accumulation, Under Cadmium Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana
by Chisato Yamaguchi, Soudthedlath Khamsalath, Yuki Takimoto, Akiko Suyama, Yuki Mori, Naoko Ohkama-Ohtsu and Akiko Maruyama-Nakashita
Plants 2020, 9(2), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9020163 - 29 Jan 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3596
Abstract
Sulfur (S) assimilation, which is initiated by sulfate uptake, generates cysteine, the substrate for glutathione (GSH) and phytochelatin (PC) synthesis. GSH and PC contribute to cadmium (Cd) detoxification by capturing it for sequestration. Although Cd exposure is known to induce the expression of [...] Read more.
Sulfur (S) assimilation, which is initiated by sulfate uptake, generates cysteine, the substrate for glutathione (GSH) and phytochelatin (PC) synthesis. GSH and PC contribute to cadmium (Cd) detoxification by capturing it for sequestration. Although Cd exposure is known to induce the expression of S-assimilating enzyme genes, including sulfate transporters (SULTRs), mechanisms of their transcriptional regulation are not well understood. Transcription factor SLIM1 controls transcriptional changes during S deficiency (−S) in Arabidopsis thaliana. We examined the potential involvement of SLIM1 in inducing the S assimilation pathway and PC accumulation. Cd treatment reduced the shoot fresh weight in the sulfur limitation1 (slim1) mutant but not in the parental line (1;2PGN). Cd-induced increases of sulfate uptake and SULTR1;2 expressions were diminished in the slim1 mutant, suggesting that SLIM1 is involved in inducing sulfate uptake during Cd exposure. The GSH and PC levels were lower in slim1 than in the parental line, indicating that SLIM1 was required for increasing PC during Cd treatment. Hence, SLIM1 indirectly contributes to Cd tolerance of plants by inducing −S responses in the cell caused by depleting the GSH pool, which is consumed by enhanced PC synthesis and sequestration to the vacuole. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanism and Genes for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Accumulation in Plants)
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