About this Research Topic
Heavy metal and metalloid contamination of soil and water sources is one of the major present-day concerns in agriculture and the environment and further compounded by climate change. Soil and water contamination result in the overuse of chemical fertilizer in agronomic fields, from mining processes that degrade soil structure and let residues known as mine-tailings, or due to mine accidents that release toxic substances into the water sources. Most of these heavy metals or metalloids are harmful to plants and soil, resulting in diminished crop yield. Metal and metalloids also enter the food chain through biomagnification thereby posing risk to human health. Long-term heavy metal contamination of soils also brings harmful effects to soil microbes which negatively influences the physiological functions of the plants.
It is important to understand how plants respond to this stress, from the genomic to physiological level in order to address the problems brought by heavy metals and metalloids to plants. It is well known that plants have evolved different tolerance mechanisms to cope with this metal risk. Several research groups are studying these mechanisms from different levels to understand the evolved tolerance mechanism that plants have developed, including the role of soil microorganisms in this. Therefore, this research topic aims to gather the most novel information related to plant metal and metalloid toxicity and tolerance, exploring the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms involved. Studies on the emerging area of the soil and plant microbiome are also welcome.
The scope of this topic includes the following but is not limited to:
• Soil contamination by heavy metals and metalloids and plant stress
• Acidic soils and aluminum toxicity
• Mechanisms of toxicity of heavy metals in native and agronomic plants
• Mechanisms of tolerance of heavy metals in native and agronomic plants
• Heavy metals and soil mineral nutrients
• Effects of mineral nutrients on the adsorption, precipitation, and bioavailability of heavy metals in soil
• Effects of mineral nutrients on heavy metals retention in roots, partitioning in the vegetative tissues, and sequestration in the organelles
• Transcriptome studies related to heavy metals and metalloids
• The microbiome of plants growing in contaminated soils
• Role of microorganisms in plant tolerance to heavy metals
• Phytohormones and nutrients in their role in signal transduction pathways of plant responses
• Bacteria growth promoters under heavy metal stress
Please note that descriptive studies and those defining gene families or descriptive collection of transcripts, proteins, or metabolites, will not be considered for review unless they are expanded and provide mechanistic and/or physiological insights into the biological system or process being studied.
It is important to understand how plants respond to this stress, from the genomic to physiological level in order to address the problems brought by heavy metals and metalloids to plants. It is well known that plants have evolved different tolerance mechanisms to cope with this metal risk. Several research groups are studying these mechanisms from different levels to understand the evolved tolerance mechanism that plants have developed, including the role of soil microorganisms in this. Therefore, this research topic aims to gather the most novel information related to plant metal and metalloid toxicity and tolerance, exploring the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms involved. Studies on the emerging area of the soil and plant microbiome are also welcome.
The scope of this topic includes the following but is not limited to:
• Soil contamination by heavy metals and metalloids and plant stress
• Acidic soils and aluminum toxicity
• Mechanisms of toxicity of heavy metals in native and agronomic plants
• Mechanisms of tolerance of heavy metals in native and agronomic plants
• Heavy metals and soil mineral nutrients
• Effects of mineral nutrients on the adsorption, precipitation, and bioavailability of heavy metals in soil
• Effects of mineral nutrients on heavy metals retention in roots, partitioning in the vegetative tissues, and sequestration in the organelles
• Transcriptome studies related to heavy metals and metalloids
• The microbiome of plants growing in contaminated soils
• Role of microorganisms in plant tolerance to heavy metals
• Phytohormones and nutrients in their role in signal transduction pathways of plant responses
• Bacteria growth promoters under heavy metal stress
Please note that descriptive studies and those defining gene families or descriptive collection of transcripts, proteins, or metabolites, will not be considered for review unless they are expanded and provide mechanistic and/or physiological insights into the biological system or process being studied.
Keywords: Heavy metals, metalloids, acidic soils, mine tailings, phytohormones, transcriptome, microbiome, PGPB (plant growth-promoting bacteria), sequestration
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
