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Plants
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Physiological Response and Molecular Mechanisms of Plants to Heavy Metal/Loid...
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Physiological Response and Molecular Mechanisms of Plants to Heavy Metal/Loid Toxicity

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2024 | Viewed by 860

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Muhammad Zeeshan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology of the Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
2. Yingdong College of Biology and Agriculture, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan 512005, China
Interests: molecular stress physiology; cellular toxicants; ecotoxicology; phytoremediation; plant response to abiotic stress and signaling transduction
Dr. Abdul Salam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology of the Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Interests: crop stress physiology; cellular redox homeostasis; plant ultrastructures; molecular plant improvement; nanotechnology; seed priming
Dr. Aamir Hamid Khan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of biology, Department of Biogeography, Paleoecology and Environmental protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
Interests: study of abiotic stress effects on plants through biochemical; omics; genome editing using CRISPR technology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Heavy metal/loid (HM) toxicity poses a significant threat to the growth and development of plants, affecting their ability to photosynthesize, take up nutrients, and maintain cellular homeostasis. Therefore, understanding the physiological and molecular responses to HM toxicity is crucial for developing strategies to mitigate HM pollution and promote sustainable agriculture.

Currently, research in this field focuses on elucidating the complex mechanisms that plants employ to adapt to HM stress. This involves the investigation of physiological changes, such as alterations in the plant's metabolism, antioxidant systems, and gene expression patterns. However, despite the progress that has been made, there is still much to learn about the intricate interactions between plants and HM toxicity. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to publish original articles and reviews that consolidate recent advancements in the field of HM tolerance, as well as to identify potential new mitigation strategies at agronomical, physiological, eco-physiological, and molecular levels, which are involved in a plant’s response to HM toxicity.

The main themes are described below.

  1. Examining the intricate molecular mechanisms employed by plants to perceive and adapt to HM toxicity, with a particular emphasis on the crucial roles played by signaling molecules such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and phytohormones.
  2. Identifying novel genes and proteins involved in HM detoxification and tolerance mechanisms in plants, providing insights into a plant's adaptive strategies.
  3. Exploring the role of plant microbiota in HM detoxification and its potential in enhancing plant tolerance to HM stress.
  4. Developing genetic engineering and biotechnological approaches to improve the HM tolerance of crop plants, thereby ensuring sustainable crop production in HM-contaminated areas.
  5. Evaluating the ecological consequences of HM stress on plant–insect and plant–microbe interactions, assessing its impact on ecosystem health and stability.

Dr. Muhammad Zeeshan
Dr. Abdul Salam
Dr. Aamir Hamid Khan
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.

Keywords

  • phytoremediation
  • redox homeostasis
  • plant–environment interaction
  • metal tolerance index
  • metal ion uptake
  • phytochelatins

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 3918 KiB  
Article
Recovery of Scots Pine Seedlings from Long-Term Zinc Toxicity
by Yury V. Ivanov, Alexandra I. Ivanova, Alexander V. Kartashov and Vladimir V. Kuznetsov
Plants 2024, 13(16), 2227; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13162227 (registering DOI) - 11 Aug 2024
Abstract
We studied the recovery of the growth and physiological parameters of Scots pine seedlings after long-term zinc toxicity. The removal of excess zinc from the nutrient solution resulted in the rapid recovery of primary root growth but did not promote the initiation and [...] Read more.
We studied the recovery of the growth and physiological parameters of Scots pine seedlings after long-term zinc toxicity. The removal of excess zinc from the nutrient solution resulted in the rapid recovery of primary root growth but did not promote the initiation and growth of lateral roots. The recovery of root growth was accompanied by the rapid uptake of manganese, magnesium, and copper. Despite the maximum rate of manganese uptake by the roots, the manganese content in the needles of the recovering plants did not reach control values during the 28 days of the experiment, unlike magnesium, iron, and copper. In general, the recovery of ion homeostasis eliminated all of the negative effects on the photosynthetic pigment content in the needles. However, these changes, along with recovery of the water content in the needles, were not accompanied by an increase in the weight gain of the recovering seedlings compared with that of the Zn-stressed seedlings. The increased accumulation of phenolic compounds in the needles persisted for a long period after excess zinc was removed from the nutrient solution. The decreased lignin content in the roots and needles is a characteristic feature of Zn-stressed plants. Moreover, the removal of excess zinc from the nutrient solution did not lead to an increase in the lignin content in the organs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Response and Molecular Mechanisms of Plants to Heavy Metal/Loid Toxicity)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1
<p>The development of Scots pine seedlings throughout the experiment: (<b>a</b>) fresh weight; (<b>b</b>) dry weight; and (<b>c</b>) water content. Pairwise comparisons of the means with controls at corresponding time points were performed using the Student’s <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test for normally distributed data (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by asterisks (*)) or the Mann–Whitney rank sum test when the <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test was not applicable (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by multiplication symbols (×)). The significance of the variant (V), sampling time (T), and variant × time (V × T) interactions were calculated using 2-way ANOVA (<span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05), with a circle (•) indicating a significant difference and “ns” indicating no significant difference.</p> Full article ">Figure 2
<p>The development of the root system of Scots pine seedlings throughout the experiment: (<b>a</b>) primary root length; (<b>b</b>) number of first-order lateral roots; (<b>c</b>) distance from the tip of the primary root to the first lateral root; and (<b>d</b>) number of second-order lateral roots. Pairwise comparisons of the means with controls at corresponding time points were performed using the Student’s <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test for normally distributed data (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by asterisks (*)) or the Mann–Whitney rank sum test when the <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test was not applicable (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by multiplication symbols (×)). The significance of the variant (V), sampling time (T), and variant × time (V × T) interactions were calculated using 2-way ANOVA (<span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05), with a circle (•) indicating a significant difference.</p> Full article ">Figure 3
<p>The growth of the above-ground organs of Scots pine seedlings throughout the experiment: (<b>a</b>) hypocotyl diameter; (<b>b</b>) epicotyl length; and (<b>c</b>) number of needles. Pairwise comparisons of the means with controls at corresponding time points were performed using the Student’s <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test for normally distributed data (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by asterisks (*)) or the Mann–Whitney rank sum test when the <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test was not applicable (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by multiplication symbols (×)). The significance of the variant (V), sampling time (T), and variant × time (V × T) interactions were calculated using 2-way ANOVA (<span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05), with a circle (•) indicating a significant difference and “ns” indicating no significant difference.</p> Full article ">Figure 4
<p>The nutrient contents: (<b>a</b>,<b>b</b>) Zn; (<b>c</b>,<b>d</b>) Mg; (<b>e</b>,<b>f</b>) Fe; (<b>g</b>,<b>h</b>) Mn; and (<b>i</b>,<b>j</b>) Cu in the roots (<b>a</b>,<b>c</b>,<b>e</b>,<b>g</b>,<b>i</b>) and needles (<b>b</b>,<b>d</b>,<b>f</b>,<b>h</b>,<b>j</b>) of Scots pine seedlings throughout the experiment. Pairwise comparisons of the means with controls at corresponding time points were performed using the Student’s <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test for normally distributed data (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by asterisks (*)) or the Mann–Whitney rank sum test when the <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test was not applicable (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by multiplication symbols (×)).</p> Full article ">Figure 5
<p>Heatmap analysis of low-molecular-weight antioxidant and lignin contents in the roots and needles of Scots pine seedlings during the experiment. The value of a given parameter in the control plants at the initial point was taken as 1.0 (white); the relative increase is indicated in green, and the relative decrease is indicated in red. Pairwise comparisons of the means with controls at corresponding time points were performed using the Student’s <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test for normally distributed data (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by asterisks (*)) or the Mann–Whitney rank sum test when the <span class="html-italic">t</span>-test was not applicable (significant differences at <span class="html-italic">p</span> &lt; 0.05 denoted by multiplication symbols (×)).</p> Full article ">Figure 6
<p>Lignin content in the epicotyls (after removing the needles) of the plants on the 28th day of the experiment. Statistical analyses of the data were performed with one-way ANOVA followed by Duncan’s post hoc test. Identical lowercase letters indicate that there are no differences between the experimental groups.</p> Full article ">
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