Advances in Phytotoxicity Sciences

Dear Colleagues,

Phytotoxicity was a term first used in science in the 1930s. The etymology of the word combines the plant-related affix phyto- with toxicity or the ability to be toxic. In this sense, phytotoxicity relates to any toxic, adverse effects on plants. Usually, these toxic effects are associated with environmental pollutants such as pesticides, fertilizers, trace elements, and more recently, nanoparticles. However, abiotic stresses such as salinity, or biotic stresses such as pathogen attacks also trigger adverse responses in physiology, metabolism, and plant development related to phytotoxicity. Furthermore, the allelopathic effects caused by secondary metabolites are also associated with phytotoxic properties in target plants and are utilized in botanical herbicides. In general, the phytotoxic effects studied include alterations in plant metabolism, inhibiting growth or leading to death. These are consequences of the adverse effects of phytotoxic substances or compounds on the germination process, cell division and expansion, photosynthesis, and water and nutrient uptake of plants, among others.

This Special Issue of Plants, entitled "Advances in Phytotoxicity Sciences", aims to focus on the latest research progress on compounds, artificial or natural, and the relationships between plants and the environment that induce different phytotoxic responses, as well as advanced techniques that help improve the investigation of phytotoxicity mechanisms and relevant signaling pathways. The scope of this Special Issue covers a wide range of phytotoxicity research, from standard plant assays to more specific techniques and applications, including phytotoxicity in phytoplankton. Authors are welcome to submit both papers and review articles.

Prof. Dr. Larissa Andrade-Vieira
Dr. Mónica Fernández-Aparicio
Guest Editors

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.

• nanotoxicity
• plant toxicity
• metal toxicity
• phytotoxic effects
• plant inhibition growth
• phototoxicity