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Challenges and Side Effects of Heavy Metals in Agriculture

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A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2023) | Viewed by 13365

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yinbo Gan

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Guest Editor

Crop Research Institute, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: trichome and root hair development; heavy metal stress; plant hormone vs. plant development; nitrate signal and lateral development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The huge demand for and applications of heavy metals such as cadmium, zinc, chromium, copper, bismuth, nickel, cobalt, and silver have increased their release into the environment. Especially, crops uptake large quantities of heavy metals through water, which leads to increased contamination in the food chain, causing serious health problems in human beings. This phenomenon affects agricultural land and economically important crops all over the world. Soil acts as the final sink for heavy metals, and these metals could be toxic to soil organisms and plants. After entering the plant, heavy metals are transported to various organs and cause serious damage. Therefore, the goal of this Issue is to cover all aspects, including the toxic effects of heavy metals on plants, the quantification of heavy metals ending up (intentionally or unintentionally) in agricultural soil, sources of heavy metal in agriculture, problems related to the evaluation and monitoring of heavy metals in agricultural crops, and the distribution of heavy metals in agricultural soil leading to negative impacts on the ecosystem and human health. I invite you to contribute by submitting studies or comprehensive reviews analyzing current challenges in heavy metal stress, possible methodological studies, applicable techniques to ameliorate the heavy metal toxicity in agricultural crops, or innovative solutions in breeding crops resistant to heavy metal stress.

Prof. Dr. Yinbo Gan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Agricultural soil
Metal stress
Applicable techniques
Human health
Evaluation and monitoring
Heavy metals distribution
Toxic effect on plants

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1423 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Antigenotoxic and Antimutagenic Potentials of Proline in Allium cepa Exposed to the Toxicity of Cadmium

by Cornelia Purcarea, Vasile Laslo, Adriana Ramona Memete, Eliza Agud, Florina Miere (Groza) and Simona Ioana Vicas

Agriculture 2022, 12(10), 1568; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture12101568 - 28 Sep 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1416

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate whether the application of proline as a potential osmoprotectant at different doses could improve the genotoxic and mutagenic effects caused by plant exposure to cadmium salts. For this purpose, the Comet assay was used, which allows the rapid detection of DNA damage shortly after its occurrence, before the DNA is repaired, as well as the discrimination of the DNA damage limited to specific cells in a heterogeneous population. After treatment of Allium cepa roots with 75µM CdSO₄·H₂O (Cd sample), a DNA percentage of 35.24% was recorded in the tail. In the samples treated first with proline and then with cadmium (pre-treatment group), the percentage DNA in the tail was reduced by 24.8% compared with the Cd sample. Instead, in the post-treatment group (samples treated first with cadmium and then with proline), the percentage DNA in the tail was reduced by 69.04% compared with the Cd sample. All cadmium treatments induced chromosomal aberrations (CAs). Compared with the CAs values obtained after Cd treatment, the reduction was 75.6% in the pre-treatment group and 55.39% in the post-treatment group. The results of this study highlighted that exogenous application of proline alleviated the genotoxic effect of cadmium. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Side Effects of Heavy Metals in Agriculture)

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13 pages, 2010 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Potential Ecological Risks of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil Alongside Highways and Their Relationship with Landscape

by Cong Xu, Jie Pu, Bo Wen and Min Xia

Agriculture 2021, 11(8), 800; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11080800 - 22 Aug 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2611

Abstract

The agricultural soil alongside highways has experienced multiple potential ecological risks from human activities. In this study, 100 soil samples near the highways were collected in Lishui District, Nanjing City. Using the single-factor pollution index, the Nemerow comprehensive pollution index, and the potential ecological risk index, the study investigated the heavy metal contents and distribution in roadside agricultural soil. PCA and a multiple regression model were applied to quantitatively analyze the spatial relationships between sampling soil heavy metal accumulation and the surrounding man-made landscape. The mean contents of Cu and Pb exceeded the background, while Cd, Cr, and Zn were lower than that. The potential ecological risk index exhibited a very low ecological hazard and only Cr in soils rarely showed moderate risk. Furthermore, quantitative analysis for the sources of contamination revealed that agricultural practices were the dominant contributors to the heavy metals, including Cd, Cu, and Zn, while road and heavy industrial practices contributed to Cr and Pb. The study provides sources of heavy metal pollution from human activities in roadside agricultural land and serves as a reference for ecological restoration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Side Effects of Heavy Metals in Agriculture)

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Figure 1

11 pages, 1020 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of Cd on Temporal Dynamics of Nutrient Distribution Pattern of Bletilla striata, a Traditional Chinese Medicine Plant

by Jiyuan Yang, Hui Sun, Jihong Qin, Xiaoqin Wang and Wenqing Chen

Agriculture 2021, 11(7), 594; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11070594 - 26 Jun 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1850

Abstract

Bletilla striata is an endangered medicinal plant the habitats of which are polluted by cadmium (Cd). Nutrient management is a potential way to mitigate Cd toxicity, providing reference for B. striata artificial cultivation. Pot experiments were undertaken to examine the effect of five levels of Cd concentration (control: 0.28 mg/kg; I: 0.37 mg/kg; II: 1.00 mg/kg; III: 7.39 mg/kg; IV: 54.6 mg/kg) on the temporal dynamics of nutrient allocation in B. striata components. The results showed that the content and accumulation of Cd increased significantly in all tissues of Bletilla striata as Cd concentration was increasing, and most accumulated in the roots and slightly transferred to the aboveground parts, while tubers were less likely to accumulate Cd. Excessive cadmium accumulation under long-term exposure reduced the biomass of all tissues of B. striata, and the yield was not significantly affected when cultivated in soil with a concentration of Cd ≤ 1 mg/kg. Potassium (K) was quickly transferred from the root to other tissues in response to the Cd stress. The absorption of zinc (Zn) increased at first and then decreased with increased Cd concentration. According to Pearson correlation analysis, a mechanism is suggested that Cd accumulation affects the absorption of nutrients but is positively and significantly correlated with translocation factor of K and Zn in the tuber. This may imply that B. striata tends to promote the absorption of nutrient elements to adapt to the Cd enrichment in tubers and to compensate for the interrupted mineral nutrition metabolism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Side Effects of Heavy Metals in Agriculture)

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Graphical abstract

13 pages, 2205 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Computational Simulation of Filters Used in the Removal of Heavy Metals Using Rice Husks

by M. C. Barrero-Moreno, C. A. Diaz-Vargas and E. Restrepo-Parra

Agriculture 2021, 11(2), 146; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture11020146 - 10 Feb 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2149

Abstract

The biofiltration technique is of great importance for the removal of heavy metals. In the present work, a laboratory-scale biofilter was modeled using rice husk as a filter material. The Wolborska model was used to know the dimensions necessary for the biofilter to function. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were performed to quantify the filter adsorption process, showing that the Langmuir isotherms are the ones that present the highest correlation coefficient and best represent the removal process of

Cd (II)

Cu (II)

and

Cr (VI)

. According to the Langmuir isotherms, the maximum operating temperature allowed for this model was chosen, which was 303.15 K, because it presents the maximum removal of heavy metals. Regarding the pH variations for Cd (II) and Cu (II), the maximum removal was presented with a pH = 9.0 and for Cr (VI) with a pH = 3.0 the maximum removal was presented. According to the rupture curves, the blocking times were obtained for each height: for Cd (II) the highest

t_{b}

for h = 0.55, Cu (II) the highest

t_{b}

for h = 0.40 and for Cr (VI) the highest

t_{b}

for h = 0.40. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Side Effects of Heavy Metals in Agriculture)

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Review

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18 pages, 1172 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Recent Developments in Rice Molecular Breeding for Tolerance to Heavy Metal Toxicity

by Zulqarnain Haider, Irshan Ahmad, Samta Zia and Yinbo Gan

Agriculture 2023, 13(5), 944; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agriculture13050944 - 25 Apr 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2814

Abstract

Heavy metal toxicity generally refers to the negative impact on the environment, humans, and other living organisms caused by exposure to heavy metals (HMs). Heavy metal poisoning is the accumulation of HMs in the soft tissues of organisms in a toxic amount. HMs bind to certain cells and prevent organs from functioning. Symptoms of HM poisoning can be life-threatening and not only cause irreversible damage to humans and other organisms; but also significantly reduce agricultural yield. Symptoms and physical examination findings associated with HM poisoning vary depending on the metal accumulated. Many HMs, such as zinc, copper, chromium, iron, and manganese, are present at extremely low levels but are essential for the functioning of plants. However, if these metals accumulate in the plants in sufficient concentrations to cause poisoning, serious damage can occur. Rice is consumed around the world as a staple food and incidents of HM pollution often occur in rice-growing areas. In many rice-producing countries, cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and lead (Pb) have been recognized as commonly widespread HMs contaminating rice fields worldwide. In addition to mining and irrigation activities, the use of fertilizers and pesticides has also contributed significantly to HM contamination of rice-growing soils around the world. A number of QTLs associated with HM stress signals from various intermediary molecules have been reported to activate various transcription factors (TFs). Some antioxidant enzymes have been studied which contribute to the scavenging of reactive oxygen species, ultimately leading to stress tolerance in rice. Genome engineering and advanced editing techniques have been successfully applied to rice to improve metal tolerance and reduce HM accumulation in grains. In this review article, recent developments and progress in the molecular science for the induction of HM stress tolerance, including reduced metal uptake, compartmentalized transportation, gene-regulated signaling, and reduced accumulation or diversion of HM particles to plant parts other than grains, are discussed in detail, with particular emphasis on rice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Side Effects of Heavy Metals in Agriculture)

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