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Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae
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Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2024) | Viewed by 9101

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Anna Torelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy
Interests: molecular biology; genetics; western blot; biochemistry; plant biotechnology; plant biology; botany
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Matteo Marieschi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy
Interests: DNA; RNA; DNA extraction; PCR; cloning; sequencing; DNA amplification; DNA isolation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Heavy metals represent an important constraint for living organisms in water and on land. Although some of them are useful as trace elements for plant and algae metabolism, they are very toxic when absorbed in large quantity. Heavy metal soil and water contamination due to natural and, above all, to anthropogenic activity have a strong impact both on crop production and on natural ecosystems, ultimately affecting the health of living organisms, food availability and life of whole ecosystems. Being sessile organisms, plants cannot escape unwanted changes in their environment and have evolved a series of mechanisms allowing to cope with heavy metal toxicity and to acquire tolerance toward them. Plants could adopt different strategies including lower accumulation, sequestration in inert compartments, chelation, and mitigation of negative effects through reduction of oxidative stress or chemical conversion of the stressor agents. Understanding how plants can tolerate heavy metals is crucial, especially in this period of important challenges driven by a strong requirement of environmental sustainability. Research in this area is driven by the hope to reduce the heavy metals uptake not only in crops, but also in wild plants, thereby decreasing the risk of contamination in animals and human beings. Understanding these mechanisms will open the way to the production of hypo-accumulator crops and hyper-accumulator plants to be addressed to phytodepuration. Currently, many studies have being carried out to address the onset of metal tolerance focused on tools taking into consideration transcriptomics (transcriptome), proteomics (proteome), ionomics (trace elements), and metabolomics (metabolome). In this Special Issue, articles (original research papers or reviews) that focus on heavy metal sensing, uptake, detoxification, involving biochemistry, physiology, genes, proteins, and metabolites and how these tolerance mechanisms evolved in different classes of plant organisms are welcome.

Prof. Anna Torelli
Dr. Matteo Marieschi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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
  • heavy metal sensing
  • heavy metal uptake
  • heavy metal sequestration
  • phytochelatin
  • glutathione and oxidative stress
  • cysteine synthesis and degradation
  • heavy metal tolerance evolution
  • hyper and hypo accumulator plants
  • environmental pollutants
  • stress mitigation

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3890 KiB  
Article
Potentially Toxic Elements Uptake and Distribution in Betula middendorffii T. and Duschekia fruticosa R. Growing on Diamond Mining Area (Yakutia, Russia)
by Anna Gololobova and Yana Legostaeva
Plants 2024, 13(17), 2440; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13172440 - 31 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 926
Abstract
This study was conducted in the territory of the industrial site of the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (Yakutia, Russia). The objects of study were permafrost soils and two species of shrubs (Betula middendorffii T. and Duschekia fruticose R.). Soil and [...] Read more.
This study was conducted in the territory of the industrial site of the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (Yakutia, Russia). The objects of study were permafrost soils and two species of shrubs (Betula middendorffii T. and Duschekia fruticose R.). Soil and plant samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry for the presence of potentially toxic elements (Pb, Ni, Mn, Cd, Co, Co, Cr, Zn, Cu, and As). The bioaccumulation factor for each element was also calculated. In the studied plants, the investigated elements were arranged in the following descending row in terms of their content: Mn > Zn > Cr > Ni > Cu > Pb > As > Co > Cd, but in terms of bioaccumulation degree, they decrease in the following row: Cr > Zn > Ni > Mn > Pb > Cu > Cd > Co—for Betula middendorffii, Cr > Zn > Ni > Pb > Cu > Mn > Mn > Cd > Co—for Duschekia fruticose. The bioaccumulation factor results confirmed that Betula middendorffiii and Duschekia fruticosa are resistant to high concentrations of Cr, Ni, Co, Cu, Mn, and Zn elements coherent to kimberlites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae)
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22 pages, 20873 KiB  
Article
Phytochelatin Synthase: An In Silico Comparative Analysis in Cyanobacteria and Eukaryotic Microalgae
by Michele Ferrari, Matteo Marieschi, Radiana Cozza and Anna Torelli
Plants 2024, 13(15), 2165; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152165 - 5 Aug 2024
Viewed by 921
Abstract
Phytochelatins (PCs) are small cysteine-rich peptides involved in metal detoxification, not genetically encoded but enzymatically synthesized by phytochelatin synthases (PCSs) starting from glutathione. The constitutive PCS expression even in the absence of metal contamination, the wide phylogenetic distribution and the similarity between PCSs [...] Read more.
Phytochelatins (PCs) are small cysteine-rich peptides involved in metal detoxification, not genetically encoded but enzymatically synthesized by phytochelatin synthases (PCSs) starting from glutathione. The constitutive PCS expression even in the absence of metal contamination, the wide phylogenetic distribution and the similarity between PCSs and the papain-type cysteine protease catalytic domain suggest a wide range of functions for PCSs. These proteins, widely studied in land plants, have not been fully analyzed in algae and cyanobacteria, although these organisms are the first to cope with heavy-metal stress in aquatic environments and can be exploited for phytoremediation. To fill this gap, we compared the features of the PCS proteins of different cyanobacterial and algal taxa by phylogenetic linkage. The analyzed sequences fall into two main, already known groups of PCS-like proteins. Contrary to previous assumptions, they are not classed as prokaryotic and eukaryotic sequences, but rather as sequences characterized by the alternative presence of asparagine and aspartic/glutamic acid residues in proximity of the catalytic cysteine. The presence of these enzymes with peculiar features suggests differences in their post-translational regulation related to cell/environmental requirements or different cell functions rather than to differences due to their belonging to different phylogenetic taxa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae)
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14 pages, 2244 KiB  
Article
Gibberellin-Mediated Sensitivity of Rice Roots to Aluminum Stress
by Long Lu, Xinyu Chen, Qinyan Tan, Wenqian Li, Yanyan Sun, Zaoli Zhang, Yuanyuan Song and Rensen Zeng
Plants 2024, 13(4), 543; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13040543 - 16 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1356
Abstract
Aluminum toxicity poses a significant constraint on crop production in acidic soils. While phytohormones are recognized for their pivotal role in mediating plant responses to aluminum stress, the specific involvement of gibberellin (GA) in regulating aluminum tolerance remains unexplored. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Aluminum toxicity poses a significant constraint on crop production in acidic soils. While phytohormones are recognized for their pivotal role in mediating plant responses to aluminum stress, the specific involvement of gibberellin (GA) in regulating aluminum tolerance remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate that external GA exacerbates the inhibitory impact of aluminum stress on root growth of rice seedlings, concurrently promoting reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Furthermore, rice plants overexpressing the GA synthesis gene SD1 exhibit enhanced sensitivity to aluminum stress. In contrast, the slr1 gain-of-function mutant, characterized by impeded GA signaling, displays enhanced tolerance to aluminum stress, suggesting the negative regulatory role of GA in rice resistance to aluminum-induced toxicity. We also reveal that GA application suppresses the expression of crucial aluminum tolerance genes in rice, including Al resistance transcription factor 1 (ART1), Nramp aluminum transporter 1 (OsNramp4), and Sensitive to Aluminum 1 (SAL1). Conversely, the slr1 mutant exhibits up-regulated expression of these genes compared to the wild type. In summary, our results shed light on the inhibitory effect of GA in rice resistance to aluminum stress, contributing to a theoretical foundation for unraveling the intricate mechanisms of plant hormones in regulating aluminum tolerance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae)
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20 pages, 3208 KiB  
Article
Bio-Monitoring of Metal(loid)s Pollution in Dry Riverbeds Affected by Mining Activity
by José Cuevas, Ángel Faz, Silvia Martínez-Martínez, María Gabarrón, Juan Beltrá, Jacinto Martínez and José A. Acosta
Plants 2023, 12(21), 3775; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12213775 - 5 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1442
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the most abundant native plants that could be used as a bio-monitor of metal(loid) concentration in dry riverbeds affected by mining activities. Three plants species and their respective rhizospheric soils were sampled from the El [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the most abundant native plants that could be used as a bio-monitor of metal(loid) concentration in dry riverbeds affected by mining activities. Three plants species and their respective rhizospheric soils were sampled from the El Beal (Piptatherum miliaceum, 15 samples), La Carrasquilla (Foeniculum vulgare, 10 samples), and Ponce (Dittrichia viscosa, 12 samples) dry riverbeds from the mining district of Cartegena-La Unión (SE Spain). There is scanty bibliography of the capacity of these species to be used as bio-monitors in the dry riverbeds. Plants categorized as a bio-monitor were established according to the bioaccumulation factor (BF), mobility ratio (MR), and linear correlations between metal(loid) concentrations in plants tissues (root or stem)-rhizospheric soils. The rhizospheric soils were highly contaminated for As, Cd, Pb, and Zn (Cf ≥ 6), and moderately contaminated for Mn (1 ≤ Cf < 3). Piptatherum miliaceum presented on Cd similar mean concentrations on rhizospheric soil and root, BF = 1.07, with a strong correlation soil–root (r = 0.61, p = 0.02). Therefore, of the three species with the capacity to grow in the area, Piptatherum miliaceum showed characteristics to be considered as a bio-monitor for Cd, with a BF > 1, and a positive–significant correlation between the rhizospheric soil and roots. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae)
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17 pages, 3394 KiB  
Article
Photosynthetic Efficiency of Marchantia polymorpha L. in Response to Copper, Iron, and Zinc
by Carlo Sorce, Erika Bellini, Florinda Bacchi and Luigi Sanità di Toppi
Plants 2023, 12(15), 2776; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12152776 - 26 Jul 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1484
Abstract
Metal micronutrients are essential for plant nutrition, but their toxicity threshold is low. In-depth studies on the response of light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis to metal micronutrients are needed, and the analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence transients is a suitable technique. The liverwort Marchantia [...] Read more.
Metal micronutrients are essential for plant nutrition, but their toxicity threshold is low. In-depth studies on the response of light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis to metal micronutrients are needed, and the analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence transients is a suitable technique. The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha L., a model organism also used in biomonitoring, allowed us to accurately study the effects of metal micronutrients in vivo, particularly the early responses. Gametophytes were treated with copper (Cu), iron (Fe) or zinc (Zn) for up to 120 h. Copper showed the strongest effects, negatively affecting almost the entire light phase of photosynthesis. Iron was detrimental to the flux of energy around photosystem II (PSII), while the acceptor side of PSI was unaltered. The impact of Fe was milder than that of Cu and in both cases the structures of the photosynthetic apparatus that resisted the treatments were still able to operate efficiently. The susceptibility of M. polymorpha to Zn was low: although the metal affected a large part of the electron transport chain, its effects were modest and short-lived. Our results may provide a contribution towards achieving a more comprehensive understanding of response mechanisms to metals and their evolution in plants, and may be useful for supporting the development of biomonitoring techniques. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae)
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16 pages, 2539 KiB  
Article
Weed Species from Tea Gardens as a Source of Novel Aluminum Hyperaccumulators
by Roghieh Hajiboland, Aiuob Moradi, Ehsan Kahneh, Charlotte Poschenrieder, Fatemeh Nazari, Jelena Pavlovic, Roser Tolra, Seyed-Yahya Salehi-Lisar and Miroslav Nikolic
Plants 2023, 12(11), 2129; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12112129 - 27 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1922
Abstract
Increased availability of toxic Al3+ is the main constraint limiting plant growth on acid soils. Plants adapted to acid soils, however, tolerate toxic Al3+, and some can accumulate Al in their aerial parts to a significant degree. Studies on Al-tolerant [...] Read more.
Increased availability of toxic Al3+ is the main constraint limiting plant growth on acid soils. Plants adapted to acid soils, however, tolerate toxic Al3+, and some can accumulate Al in their aerial parts to a significant degree. Studies on Al-tolerant and Al-accumulating species have mainly focused on the vegetation of acid soils distributed as two global belts in the northern and southern hemispheres, while acid soils formed outside these regions have been largely neglected. The acid soils (pH 3.4–4.2) of the tea plantations in the south Caspian region of Northern Iran were surveyed over three seasons at two main locations. Aluminum and other mineral elements (including nutrients) were measured in 499 plant specimens representing 86 species from 43 families. Al accumulation exceeding the criterion for accumulator species (>1000 µg g−1 DW) was found in 36 species belonging to 23 families of herbaceous annual or perennial angiosperms, in addition to three bryophyte species. Besides Al, Fe accumulation (1026–5155 µg g−1 DW) was also observed in the accumulator species that exceeded the critical toxicity concentration, whereas no such accumulation was observed for Mn. The majority of analyzed accumulator plants (64%) were cosmopolitan or pluriregional species, with a considerable rate of Euro-Siberian elements (37%). Our findings, which may contribute to phylogenetic studies of Al accumulators, also suggest suitable accumulator and excluder species for the rehabilitation of acid-eroded soils and introduce new model species for investigating Al accumulation and exclusion mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants and Algae)
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