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Heavy Metals: Transport in Plants and Their Physiological and Toxicological Effects

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Plant Metal and Metalloid Transporters

Abstract

Heavy metal pollution in the environment is becoming a serious problem and a major concern as it is causes negative effects all over the world. These inorganic pollutants are being discarded in soils, water and the atmosphere as a result of rapidly growing agriculture and metal industries, improper waste disposal, pesticides and fertilisers. This chapter explains how these pollutants enter our environment and cause serious diseases such as cancer by interfering with biological functions and accumulating in various organs. This chapter also describes the toxicological and pharmacokinetic properties of metals and their translocation in the plant, some biochemical properties and physiological effects of such metals in humans as well as in plants.

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Abbreviations

Al:

Aluminium

C:

Carbon

Ca(OH)2:

Calcium hydroxide

CAT:

Catalase

Cl:

Chloride

CO2:

Carbon dioxide

Cr:

Chromium

DNA:

Deoxyribonucleic acid

DTPA:

Diethylenetriaminepentaacetate acid

GSH:

Dlutathione

H2O2:

Hydrogen peroxide

Hg:

Mercury

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MEG3:

Maternally expressed gene 3

Mn:

Manganese

NaF:

Sodium fluoride

O2:

Oxygen

POD:

Peroxidase

PSII:

Photosystem II

RNA:

Ribonucleic acid

S:

Sulphur

Si:

Silicon

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TBARS:

Thiobarbituric acid relative substances

ZIP:

Zinc-iron permease

Zn:

Zinc

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, Punjab, India

    Prasann Kumar, E. Lokesh Goud, Priyanka Devi & Shipa Rani Dey

  2. Department of Plant Physiology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    Padmanabh Dwivedi

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  1. Prasann Kumar
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  2. E. Lokesh Goud
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  3. Priyanka Devi
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  4. Shipa Rani Dey
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  5. Padmanabh Dwivedi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology & Science Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India

    Kundan Kumar

  2. Institute of Environment & Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Sudhakar Srivastava

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Kumar, P., Goud, E.L., Devi, P., Dey, S.R., Dwivedi, P. (2022). Heavy Metals: Transport in Plants and Their Physiological and Toxicological Effects. In: Kumar, K., Srivastava, S. (eds) Plant Metal and Metalloid Transporters. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6103-8_2

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