Abstract
Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for humans and animals, but lead to toxicity when taken in excessive amounts. Plants are the main source of dietary Se, but essentiality of Se for plants is still controversial. However, Se at low doses protects the plants from variety of abiotic stresses such as cold, drought, desiccation, and metal stress. In animals, Se acts as an antioxidant and helps in reproduction, immune responses, thyroid hormone metabolism. Selenium is chemically similar to sulfur, hence taken up inside the plants via sulfur transporters present inside root plasma membrane, metabolized via sulfur assimilatory pathway, and volatilized into atmosphere. Selenium induced oxidative stress, distorted protein structure and function, are the main causes of Se toxicity in plants at high doses. Plants can play vital role in overcoming Se deficiency and Se toxicity in different regions of the world, hence, detailed mechanism of Se metabolism inside the plants is necessary for designing effective Se phytoremediation and biofortification strategies.
Highlights
The breakthrough in selenium (Se) research came into existence in 1957, when Schwartz and Foltz showed that addition of Se in fodder prevented muscular dystrophy and liver cirrhosis in rats (Rayman, 2000)
It depends upon Se uptake and accumulating capacity of plant, soil Se content, which varies according to geographical locations and presence of other elements in soil (Dumont et al, 2006; Bodnar et al, 2012; Mehdi et al, 2013)
As Se is chemically similar to S, it competes with S and is transported inside the plant through sulfate transporters present in root plasma membrane (Sors et al, 2005; Li et al, 2008)
Summary
Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for humans and animals, but lead to toxicity when taken in excessive amounts. Plants are the main source of dietary Se, but essentiality of Se for plants is still controversial. Se acts as an antioxidant and helps in reproduction, immune responses, thyroid hormone metabolism. Selenium is chemically similar to sulfur, taken up inside the plants via sulfur transporters present inside root plasma membrane, metabolized via sulfur assimilatory pathway, and volatilized into atmosphere. Selenium induced oxidative stress, distorted protein structure and function, are the main causes of Se toxicity in plants at high doses. Plants can play vital role in overcoming Se deficiency and Se toxicity in different regions of the world, detailed mechanism of Se metabolism inside the plants is necessary for designing effective Se phytoremediation and biofortification strategies
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