Phytoremediation and Biofortification in Plants
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 174
Special Issue Editors
Interests: mainly engaged in the cloning, expression regulation and functional research of genes responding to environmental stress (saline, alkali, heavy metal toxicity and CO2)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue focuses on the intersection of two hot research fields in phytoremediation and biofortification. With the increasingly severe problems of heavy metal pollution in soil worldwide, nutrient deficiency, and "hidden hunger", leveraging the inherent potential of plants to achieve environmental purification and nutrient improvement has become a key strategy for sustainable agricultural development and ecological security. This Special Issue aims to gather the latest research results and explore the collaborative potential between these two branches of study at the mechanism, technology, and application levels, providing a scientific perspective addressing challenges in food security and ecological remediation.
The scope of welcome contributions to this Special Issue encompasses multi-level exploration, ranging from molecular mechanisms to field applications.
- Mechanisms of phytoremediation:
- Research conducting in-depth analyses of the molecular networks involved in the absorption, transport, compartmentalization, and detoxification of heavy metals (such as cadmium, arsenic, and lead) by plants, highlighting the crucial roles of key genes, transport proteins, and chelating peptides (such as plant chelators and metalloproteins).
- Research demonstrating the synergistic effect of co-remediation by plants and root-associated microorganisms (such as specific bacteria or mycorrhizal fungi).
- Research investigating optimizing cultivation methods or utilizing gene editing/transgenic technologies to enhance the biomass, tolerance, and enrichment capabilities of plants.
- Approaches and challenges in biofortification:
- Research focusing on the fortification of key target micronutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium, and provitamin A (β-carotene). Besides traditional grains (rice, wheat, corn), studies on the fortification of legumes and vegetables are also welcome.
- Work investigating genetics and breeding advances through traditional breeding and molecular marker-assisted selection, as well as transgenic techniques, all of which have been used to develop a variety of nutrition-enhanced crop varieties.
Dr. Kun Qiao
Prof. Dr. Jingang Wang
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-blind 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
- heavy metals
- microelements
- transporters
- plants and crops
- ion transport
- phytoremediation
- biofortification
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