Too much is bad—an appraisal of phytotoxicity of elevated plant-beneficial heavy metal ions

Naser A. Anjum, Harminder P. Singh, M. Iqbal R. Khan, Asim Masood, Tasir S. Per, Asha Negi, Daizy R. Batish, Nafees A. Khan, Armando C. Duarte, Eduarda Pereira, Iqbal Ahmad

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

140 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Heavy metal ions such as cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) are considered essential/beneficial for optimal plant growth, development, and productivity. However, these ions readily impact functions of many enzymes and proteins, halt metabolism, and exhibit phytotoxicity at supra-optimum supply. Nevertheless, the concentrations of these heavy metal ions are increasing in agricultural soils worldwide via both natural and anthropogenic sources that need immediate attention. Considering recent breakthroughs on Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, and Zn in soil–plant system, the present paper: (a) overviews the status in soils and their uptake, transport, and significance in plants; (b) critically discusses their elevated level-mediated toxicity to both plant growth/development and cell/genome; (c) briefly cross talks on the significance of potential interactions between previous plant-beneficial heavy metal ions in plants; and (d) highlights so far unexplored aspects in the current context.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3361-3382
Number of pages22
JournalEnvironmental Science and Pollution Research
Volume22
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2015
Externally publishedYes

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