A Review on The Role of Antioxidant Defence Machinery in Plants in Response to Zinc and Cadmium Stress (Review Article)

Author(s): A. Mondal and R. Kundu*

Abstract: Being sessile in nature, plants are exposed to different elements present in the environment. Among these, several micronutrients like Zn, Fe, Cu, Mg, Mn, etc. are absorbed from the soil and utilized for their proper nutrition. These elements are essential for plant growth. However, excess amounts of these elements can become toxic for plants. On the other hand, elements like Cd, Hg, Cr, Pb, Ni, etc. have no known biological function in plants. They are also absorbed into the plant species and damage normal metabolic processes. Some plant species show extreme tolerance to one or more elements and can accumulate significant amount of heavy metals into their aerial parts. These plants are called hyperaccumulators. They have developed major strategies to resist high heavy metal exposure. In this review, we have prepared a detailed and comprehensive account on the toxicity of an essential element, namely zinc and a non-essential element, namely cadmium as well as the oxidative biomarkers of stress and the detoxification mechanisms present in plants.

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