Heavy Metal Toxicity in Plants and 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: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 29
Special Issue Editors
Interests: adaptation to heavy metal stress; brassinosteroids; phytoecdysteroids; phytohormones
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Yingdong College of Biology and Agriculture, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan 512005, China
Interests: crop molecular stress physiology; ecotoxicology; phytoremediation; plant response to abiotic stress and signaling transduction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: study of abiotic stress effect on plants through biochemical, omics, GWAS, and genome editing by using CRISPR technology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
From toxic soils to cleaner ecosystems, plants hold the key to removing heavy metals while sustaining life.
Heavy metal contamination is a critical abiotic stress that reduces plant growth, disrupts metabolism, and threatens food security. Understanding plant tolerance mechanisms and developing remediation strategies, especially phytoremediation-based approaches, is essential for sustainable agriculture and environmental restoration.
This Special Issue invites research and reviews on the physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of plants to heavy metal/loid toxicity, as well as innovative approaches to enhance phytoremediation efficiency. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Molecular and signaling pathways involved in heavy metal/loid perception and tolerance.
- Novel genes, proteins, and regulatory networks for detoxification and phytoremediation.
- Plant–microbe interactions that improve metal uptake, stabilization, or transformation.
- Biotechnological and breeding strategies to produce phytoremediation-capable crops.
- Ecological impacts of heavy metal/loid stress and remediation on ecosystem health.
We look forward to contributions that advance both scientific understanding and practical applications in managing heavy metal/loid pollution through plant-based solutions.
Dr. Andrzej Bajguz
Dr. Muhammad Zeeshan
Dr. Aamir Hamid Khan
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
- phytoremediation
- molecular responses
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