Advances on Plant Cell Responses to Environmental Pollutants

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: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 5668

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: plant cell biology; plant anatomy and morphology; microtubules; actin microfilaments; effects of herbicides, metals and organic pollutants on plant cell structure and mitosis
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Guest Editor
Section of Botany, Department of Biology, School of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Interests: abiotic/biotic stress effects on plants; plant cell biology; phytomorphogenesis; plant biomass utilization; innovative ecological quality monitoring systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The increasing human population and the upgrade of living standards concur with serious environmental problems, such as the intensification of agriculture and increase in the waste production and contaminant release in the environment. Excessive and indiscriminate use of synthetic chemicals has resulted in food chain contamination, weed and disease resistance, and negative environmental outcomes, leading to great concern regarding the presumed harmful effects on human health. Furthermore, application of these chemical inputs promotes the accumulation of toxic compounds in soils and waters. These external factors exert detrimental effects to organisms, including plants for which they may cause disturbance of the cellular structure and function, aberrations of cell division, disruption of the cytoskeleton system, and genotoxicity. Numerous studies have revealed profound effects of toxic agents to different plant species, indicating a species-specific response depending on differential gene expression. New efforts are addressed to the identification of candidate genes responsible for the discrepancies, which are exploited in medicine chemotherapy and in agricultural herbicide application. This Special Issue focuses on the advances of toxic agent–plant interaction research and aims to outline the perspectives of future research endeavors. We encourage novices and experienced scientists to contribute original research papers and reviews on the effects of any environmental pollutants to plants, in particular of emerging pollutants. Contributions at the organism, cellular, molecular and any -omic level are highly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Eleftherios P. Eleftheriou
Dr. Ioannis-Dimosthenis Adamakis
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Agrochemicals
  • Antioxidant enzymes
  • Cell division aberration
  • Cytoskeleton (microtubules, actin microfilaments)
  • Cytotoxicity
  • Gene expression
  • Genotoxicity
  • Heavy metals
  • Herbicides
  • Hormones
  • Hyperaccumulators–phytoremediation
  • Micronucleus assay
  • Nitric oxide
  • Organic pollutants
  • Oxidative stress
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Programmed cell death
  • Reactive oxygen species (ROS)
  • Ultrastructural effects

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 2924 KiB  
Article
The Phytoremediation Potential and Physiological Adaptive Response of Tamarix tetrandra Pall. Ex M. Bieb. during the Restoration of Chronosequence Fly Ash Deposits
by Olga Kostić, Snežana Jarić, Gordana Gajić, Dragana Pavlović, Zorana Mataruga, Natalija Radulović, Miroslava Mitrović and Pavle Pavlović
Plants 2022, 11(7), 855; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11070855 - 23 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2371
Abstract
The challenging process of identifying and selecting plant species suited to the phytoremediation of fly ash (FA) dumps involves studying their functional properties and physiological response to a deficit of essential elements and toxicity from heavy metal(loid)-induced oxidative stress. We hypothesised that Tamarix [...] Read more.
The challenging process of identifying and selecting plant species suited to the phytoremediation of fly ash (FA) dumps involves studying their functional properties and physiological response to a deficit of essential elements and toxicity from heavy metal(loid)-induced oxidative stress. We hypothesised that Tamarix tetrandra has high potential to be used for the phytoremediation of FA deposit sites thanks to its secretion strategy and antioxidative system. In this study, this hypothesis was examined by determining the bioconcentration and translocation factors for As, B, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Se and Zn at the FA disposal lagoons at the ‘Nikola Tesla A’ thermal power plant in Obrenovac, Serbia, three (lagoon L1) and eleven (lagoon L2) years after the phytoremediation process had begun, and by measuring parameters of photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll concentration, non-enzymatic antioxidant defence (carotenoids, anthocyanins and phenolics), oxidative stress (concentration of malondialdehyde—MDA) and total antioxidant capacity to neutralise DPPH free radical activity. Tamarisk not only showed the ability to phytostabilise As, Cr and Ni and to accumulate low-availability Mn, Zn and Cu, but also the potential to maintain the structural and functional integrity of cell membranes and stable vitality at L1 under multiple stress conditions due to the high synthesis of phenols and tolerance to increased salinity. However, toxic concentrations of B and Se in leaves induced oxidative stress in tamarisk at L2 (reflected in higher MDA content and lower vitality) and also decreased the synthesis of chlorophyll, carotenoids, anthocyanins and total antioxidant activity. In addition, the prooxidative behaviour of phenols in the presence of spin-stabilising metals from FA could also have resulted in their weaker antioxidant protection at L2. These findings indicate that the choice of tamarisk was justified, but only at the beginning of the phytoremediation process because its presence contributed to an improvement in the harsh conditions at FA deposit sites and the creation of more favourable conditions for new plant species. This knowledge can be of great importance when planning sustainable ash deposit site management worldwide. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Plant Cell Responses to Environmental Pollutants)
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11 pages, 611 KiB  
Article
Variation in the Primary and Secondary Metabolites, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Potentials of Tomatoes, Grown in Soil Blended with Different Concentration of Fly Ash
by Sajid Dominic, Abdullah Ijaz Hussain, Muhammad Hamzah Saleem, Huda Alshaya, Basit Latief Jan, Shafaqat Ali and Xiukang Wang
Plants 2022, 11(4), 551; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11040551 - 19 Feb 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2245
Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the variation in nutritional composition, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of tomatoes grown in fly ash blended soils, i.e.,T1 (soil 100% + 0% fly ash), T2 (soil 75%+ 25% fly ash), and T3 (soil 50% + [...] Read more.
The aim of the study was to investigate the variation in nutritional composition, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of tomatoes grown in fly ash blended soils, i.e.,T1 (soil 100% + 0% fly ash), T2 (soil 75%+ 25% fly ash), and T3 (soil 50% + 50% fly ash) soils. The tomato samples were harvested and screened for their proximate analysis, mineral composition, vitamin C contents, phenolic profile, and antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Results showed that T3 soil crop has high proximate composition, vitamin C, and phenolic contents as compared with T2 and T1 soil crops. Furthermore, significant variation in the elements analysis was observed in the crops grown in T1, T2, and T3 soils. T3 soil crop exhibited better antioxidant activity in term of total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoids contents (TFC), DPPH radical scavenging capacity, and ferric reducing potential as compared with T2 and T1 soil crops. Similarly, maximum inhibition zones were observed for T3 soil crop when tested for Staphylococcus aureus isolate 1 and 3 and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In conclusion, the crop grown in T3 blended soil had high antioxidant and antibacterial potentials and better nutritional composition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Plant Cell Responses to Environmental Pollutants)
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