Heavy metal contamination of soil and water causing toxicity/stress has become one important constraint to crop productivity and quality. This situation has further worsened by the increasing population growth and inherent food demand. It has been reported in several studies that counterbalancing toxicity due to heavy metal requires complex mechanisms at molecular, biochemical, physiological, c...

Microorganisms play a significant role in bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil and wastewater. In this study, heavy metal resistant fungi and bacteria were isolated from the soil samples of an electroplating industry, and the bioaccumulations of Cr(VI) and Ni(II) by these isolates were characterized to evaluate their applicability for heavy metal removal from industrial wastewaters. ...

Certain plants are known to accumulate heavy metals, and can be used in remediation of polluted soil or water. Plant-associated bacteria, especially those that are metal tolerant, may enhance the total amount of metal accumulated by the plant, but this process is still unclear. In this study, we investigated metal enhancement vs. exclusion by plants, and the phytoprotective role plant-associate...

The present study was conceptualized to evaluate the heavy metal absorbing potential of microbes isolated from paper industry effluent. The effluent was used as the source sample, after screening morpho-metrically ten strains were cultured and sub cultured to achieve the pure discrete colonies. Out of ten discrete colonies two were found to have the heavy metal absorbing ability. These two bact...

Increasing emissions of heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, and arsenic into the environment pose an acute problem for all organisms. Considerations of the biochemical basis of heavy metal detoxification in animals have focused exclusively on two classes of peptides, the thiol tripeptide, glutathione (GSH, gamma-Glu-Cys-Gly), and a diverse family of cysteine-rich low molecular weight protein...

Heavy metals are non-essential elements for plants. If plentiful amounts are accumulated in the plants, heavy metals will adversely affect the absorption and transport of essential elements, disturb the metabolism, and have an impact on growth and reproduction. Toxic Levels of Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg), Arsenic (As) affects plant processes at physiological and biochemical levels. Wh...

Phytochelatins are the principal heavy metal-detoxifying components in plants. To investigate phytochelatin (PHC) production and the importance of these compounds for heavy metal tolerance, sunflower (Helianthus annuus) was exposed to cadmium. The leaves and roots of sunflower plants cultivated in the presence of 15, 25 and 50 M Cd(NO3)2 for 3 and 9 days showed increased tolerance to cadmium an...

As in all organisms, metal cations are crucial for nutrition in plants. Severalmetals, such as copper, iron, zinc, and manganese, act as important cofactors for many enzymes and are essential for bothmitochondrial and chloroplast functions. However, when supplied in excess, these essential cations can become toxic, like heavy metals with no generally established function, such as cadmium, lead,...

As in all organisms, metal cations are crucial for nutrition in plants. Severalmetals, such as copper, iron, zinc, and manganese, act as important cofactors for many enzymes and are essential for bothmitochondrial and chloroplast functions. However, when supplied in excess, these essential cations can become toxic, like heavy metals with no generally established function, such as cadmium, lead,...

An important pathway by which plants detoxify heavy metals is through sequestration with heavy-metal-binding peptides called phytochelatins or their precursor, glutathione. To identify limiting factors for heavy-metal accumulation and tolerance, and to develop transgenic plants with an increased capacity to accumulate and/or tolerate heavy metals, the Escherichia coli gshII gene encoding glutat...