Abstract
Zinc is an essential microelement involved in many aspects of plant growth and development. Abnormal zinc amounts, mostly due to human activities, can be toxic to flora, fauna, and humans. In plants, excess zinc causes morphological, biochemical, and physiological disorders. Some plants have the ability to resist and even accumulate zinc in their tissues. To date, 28 plant species have been described as zinc hyperaccumulators. These plants display several morphological, physiological, and biochemical adaptations resulting from the activation of molecular Zn hyperaccumulation mechanisms. These adaptations can be varied between species and within populations. In this review, we describe the physiological and biochemical as well as molecular mechanisms involved in zinc hyperaccumulation in plants.
Highlights
Zinc (Zn) is the second most abundant transition metal in living organisms after iron [1]
In A. thaliana, high levels of ZIP19 and ZIP23 expression were observed in a Zn deficient culture medium [134], which suggests that the upregulation of these two genes in A. halleri and N. caerulescens might be correlated with a low Zn content in the rhizosphere due2020, to the high activity of heavy metal ATPase 4 (HMA4) [124,129] (Figure 1)
The understanding of Zn uptake and hyperaccumulation mechanisms in plants has been considerably advanced in recent years
Summary
Zinc (Zn) is the second most abundant transition metal in living organisms after iron [1]. 15 and 20 mg kg−1 dry weight [6] Beyond these concentrations, Zn can be toxic to flora, fauna, and humans [7]. Some plants have developed the ability to grow in environments with high Zn concentrations where sensitive ones cannot [13]. Some of these plants, known as hyperaccumulators, have the ability to accumulate high amounts of Zn in their aerial parts [11,12,13]. We reviewed the different studies underlying the effect of Zn excess on plant growth and development. Morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular adaptations to Zn in hyperaccumulator plants were tackled in this review
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