Progress in our understanding of plant responses to the stress of heavy metal cadmium

Tingting Zhu; Lingyu Li; Qixin Duan; Xiuling Liu; Min Chen

doi:10.1080/15592324.2020.1836884

Progress in our understanding of plant responses to the stress of heavy metal cadmium

Plant Signal Behav. 2021 Jan 2;16(1):1836884. doi: 10.1080/15592324.2020.1836884. Epub 2020 Oct 21.

Authors

Tingting Zhu¹, Lingyu Li¹, Qixin Duan¹, Xiuling Liu¹, Min Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University , Shandong, PR China.

Abstract

Heavy metal pollution is a major environmental stress affecting plant growth and development. The heavy metal cadmium inhibits various physiological processes in plants, including seed germination and seedling growth, photosynthesis, and antioxidation. Extensive research has been conducted on the toxic effects of Cd²⁺ on plants and the mechanisms of Cd²⁺ tolerance. Here, we review recent advancements in our understanding of the absorption, transport, and accumulation of Cd²⁺ in plants and the mechanisms of Cd²⁺ tolerance.

Keywords: Cadmium; Chelation; Heavy Metal; Tolerance.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Cadmium / metabolism*
Germination / drug effects
Metals, Heavy / metabolism*
Seedlings / drug effects
Seedlings / metabolism

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Cadmium

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Shandong Provincial “Bohai Granary” Science and Technology Demonstration Project [2019BHLC004], Agricultural Variety Improvement Project of Shandong Province [2019LZGC009], Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation [ZR2019MC065] and the Program for Scientific Research Innovation Team in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province.