Lead toxicity in plants: mechanistic insights into toxicity, physiological responses of plants and mitigation strategies

Figures & data

Figure 1. a) Adverse effects of heavy metals on plants, b) phytotoxicity in plants due to the HM stress.

Figure 2. Various sources of Pb in the environment.

Figure 3. Cellular uptake, transport, and translocation of Pb in plants modified.⁶⁰

Figure 4. Potential uptake mechanisms and accumulation of lead (Pb) in plant parts.⁷⁴

Figure 5. Overall disturbance in physiological mechanisms in plants by Pb toxicity. Here, “+” and “−” signs indicate positive and negative effects.⁷⁴

Figure 6. Thematic of Pb stress in plants.⁷⁴

Figure 7. Different abiotic stresses in plants.

Figure 8. Schematic representation of different phytoremediation approaches by plants under study.¹⁷⁹

Figure 9. Phyto-management to reduce Pb uptake in cereals.⁷⁴

Table 1. Benefits and drawbacks of the phytoremediation process in Pb toxicity.

Benefits	Drawbacks	References
Could be applied to different pollutants	Requires more root surface area and depth for efficient working	^Citation180
Economical in comparison to conventional methods	Long-term commitment due to less production of biomass due to slow root growth in Pb-polluted soils (time-taking)	^Citation198
Efficient pollutant reduction	Efficiently affected by the increase in the age of plants	^Citation199
Less disruptive in comparison with physical elimination and chemical treatments	Plant survival under variable Pb toxicity	^Citation200
Eco-friendly	Variable climatic conditions adversely affect the plant’s working efficiency	^Citation201
Esthetically pleasing	Variable soil chemistry	^Citation202
Easy to monitor	Bioaccumulation of Pb in plants and its transportation in the tissue of the plants	^Citation197
Possibility of recovery of different metals	Availability of pollutants for primary consumers through the food chain	^Citation203
Recycling of metals (phytomining)	No assurance of complete removal of pollutants from soil	^Citation204,Citation205

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Data availability statement

All the data are present in the manuscript only.