Plant Responses to Metal Contamination and Other Pollutants: From Molecular Adaptation to Phytoremediation
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: 10 March 2027 | Viewed by 59
Editors
Interests: heavy metals; plant biology; abiotic stress; heat; plant cell and tissue culture; ex situ plant conservation; influence of heavy metals on plants; physiology; reproduction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant anatomy and ultrastructure; biochemical and physiological mechanisms of plant responses to abiotic stresses; co-tolerance to combined stress factors; metabolism of reactive oxygen- and nitrogen species; enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants; tissue culture; ecotoxicology; in vivo and in vitro selection towards enhanced tolerance to metallic trace elements; phytoremediation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Modern phytoremediation extends far beyond the mere application of a few naturally adapted plant species to cleanse the environment of contaminants, primarily heavy metals. Today, the field utilizes microbe-assisted phytoremediation and CRISPR-based genetic modifications of genes responsible for metal transport into the cell, which are tightly regulated by transcription factors. It also relies on multi-omics integration (including transcriptomics, metabolomics, and epigenomics) to investigate the underlying mechanisms of metal accumulation. To address new environmental challenges posed by previously unknown Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs)—such as micro- and nanoplastics, Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs), Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and fullerenes—plants must activate novel metabolic pathways and crosstalk between existing ones.
Fundamentally, we possess extensive knowledge regarding the mechanisms of metal chelation, their sequestration, and other plant defense responses in the presence of metals. Moreover, these processes not only influence gene expression under metal-induced stress but also hold promise for long-term adaptation through transgenerational epigenetic memory, ultimately driving the evolution of metal tolerance. In this era of rapidly expanding knowledge in ecotoxicology, we invite all researchers conducting scientific investigations in these fields to submit original research articles and reviews that bring us closer to a comprehensive, mechanistic understanding of plant functioning in contact with different xenobiotics, including heavy metals.
Dr. Aneta Słomka
Dr. Ewa Muszyńska
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- multi-omic studies
- contaminants of emerging concern
- molecular crosstalk
- microbe-assisted phytoremediation
- heavy metals
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