Abstract
Chromium (Cr) is one of the top seven toxic heavy metals, being ranked 21st among the abundantly found metals in the earth’s crust. A huge amount of Cr releases from various industries and Cr mines, which is accumulating in the agricultural land, is significantly reducing the crop development, growth, and yield. Chromium mediates phytotoxicity either by direct interaction with different plant parts and metabolic pathways or it generates internal stress by inducing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, the role of Cr-induced ROS in the phytotoxicity is very important. In the current study, we reviewed the most recent publications regarding Cr-induced ROS, Cr-induced alteration in the enzymatic antioxidant system, Cr-induced lipid peroxidation and cell membrane damage, Cr-induced DNA damage and genotoxicity, Cr-induced ultrastructural changes in cell and subcellular level, and Cr-induced alterations in photosynthesis and photosynthetic apparatus. Taken together, we conclude that Cr-induced ROS and the suppression of the enzymatic antioxidant system actually mediate Cr-induced cytotoxic, genotoxic, ultrastructural, and photosynthetic changes in plants.
Highlights
Chromium (Cr), heavy metal with a range of oxidation numbers [Cr(II) to Cr(VI)], which is placed in the group (VI-B) of transition elements in the modern periodic table [1]
Plants have developed a complex and well-organized enzymatic antioxidant system to deal with access reactive oxygen species (ROS), produced by various endogenous and exogenous stimuli, including toxic Cr levels [8]
H2O2 is converted by ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) to H2O [8,56]
Summary
Chromium (Cr), heavy metal with a range of oxidation numbers [Cr(II) to Cr(VI)], which is placed in the group (VI-B) of transition elements in the modern periodic table [1]. Metallurgy, electroplating, alloying, ceramic glazes, wood preservation, water corrosion inhibition, refractory bricks, pressure-treated lumber, textile dyes, and mordant, pigments and paints production, and paper and pulp production industries contribute to the hyperaccumulation of Cr in the environment. Anthropogenic activities, such as the dumping Cr-contaminated liquids and solids wastes, are the reason for the hyperaccumulation of Cr in the environment [8,9,10,11]. Cr-induced phytotoxicity is mostly mediated via induced reactive oxygen species (ROS), which cause the cellular and extracellular damage in plants [8]. We reviewed Cr-induced ROS, associated cellular, and ultra-structural damages in plants
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