Dear Colleagues,

Despite the global reduction of heavy metal emissions during the last few decades, metal contamination problems still exist in some areas. Metals are often present in the environment as part of chemical contamination mixtures, together with such substances as pesticides, organic and non-organic substances, and dust particles. Furthermore, the effects of metals on organisms may be modified by physical factors on the various paths of metal toxicities. Because metals are not degradable, they are persistent environmental pro-oxidants and can produce a wide variety of detrimental effects in organisms – including oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids. DNA appears to be the most important target of metal toxicity and gene expression may be disturbed at different steps. On the other hand, some metals, for example, zinc or cadmium, can induce several gene expressions.

For this Special Issue we invite contributions that will address different aspects, such as (a) discussing effects of metals on DNA structure that can cause gene expression disturbance; (b) showing inhibition or induction of genes involved in detoxifying processes; (c) recognizing and discussing effects of metals on other molecules that take part in normal gene expression (d) exploring physical factors of this type of toxicity; (e) showing how gene expression disturbance can affect organism and population levels, as well as other aspects not mentioned in this summary. Contributions that present data obtained in field studies or wild populations are also welcome.

Authors are welcome to submit original research papers, reviews, and short communications. We hope to provide a broad overview of the current work being performed in the field of the effects of heavy metals on gene expressions.

Dr. Renata Swiergosz-Kowalewska
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• heavy metals
• toxicity
• genes
• gene expression
• physical factors
• DNA
• detoxifying processes
• mixture of toxicants