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Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for humans and animals, but lead to toxicity when taken in excessive amounts. Plants are the main source of dietary Se, but essentiality of Se for plants is still controversial. However, Se at low doses protects the plants from variety of abiotic stresses such as cold, drought, desiccation, and metal stress. In animals, Se acts as an antioxidant and helps in reproduction, immune responses, thyroid hormone metabolism. Selenium is chemically similar to sulfur, hence taken up inside the plants via sulfur transporters present inside root plasma membrane, metabolized via sulfur assimilatory pathway, and volatilized into atmosphere. Selenium induced oxidative stress, distorted protein structure and function, are the main causes of Se toxicity in plants at high doses. Plants can play vital role in overcoming Se deficiency and Se toxicity in different regions of the world, hence, detailed mechanism of Se metabolism inside the plants is necessary for designing effective Se phytoremediation and biofortification strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic (As) is a widespread environmental and food chain contaminant and class I, non-threshold carcinogen. Plants accumulate As due to ionic mimicry that is of importance as a measure of phytoremediation but of concern due to the use of plants in alternative medicine. The present study investigated As accumulation in native plants including some medicinal plants, from three districts [Chinsurah (Hoogly), Porbosthali (Bardhman), and Birnagar (Nadia)] of West Bengal, India, having a history of As pollution. A site-specific response was observed for Specific Arsenic Uptake (SAU; mg kg dw) in total number of 13 (8 aquatic and 5 terrestrial) collected plants. SAU was higher in aquatic plants (5-60 mg kg dw) than in terrestrial species (4-19 mg kg dw). The level of As was lower in medicinal plants (MPs) than in non-medicinal plants, however it was still beyond the WHO permissible limit (1 mg kg dw). The concentration of other elements (Cu, Zn, Se, and Pb) was found to be within prescribed limits in medicinal plants (MP). Among the aquatic plants, Marsilea showed the highest SAU (avg. 45 mg kg dw), however, transfer factor (TF) of As was the maximum in Centella asiatica (MP, avg. 1). Among the terrestrial plants, the maximum SAU and TF were demonstrated by Alternanthera ficoidea (avg. 15) and Phyllanthus amarus (MP, avg. 1.27), respectively. In conclusion, the direct use of MP or their by products for humans should not be practiced without proper regulation. In other way, one fern species ( Marsilea) and some aquatic plants ( Eichhornia crassipes and Cyperus difformis) might be suitable candidates for As phytoremediation of paddy fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological, biochemical, and proteomic changes in germinating rice seedlings were investigated under arsenic stress. A marked decrease in germination percentage, shoot, and root elongation as well as plant biomass was observed with arsenic treatments, as compared to control, whereas accumulation of arsenic and malondialdehyde (MDA) in seedlings were increased significantly with increasing arsenic concentration (both AsIII and AsV). The up-regulation of some antioxidant enzyme activities and the isozymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11), peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7), and glutathione reductase (GR, 1.6.4.2) substantiated that arsenic accumulation generated oxidative stress, which was more pronounced in As(III) treatment. We also studied the protective effect of reduced glutathione (GSH) and cysteine (Cys) to As(III)/As(V) stressed seedlings. Both GSH and Cys imparted enhanced tolerance to seedlings against arsenic stress. Seedlings growth improved while level of MDA declined significantly when GSH and Cys were supplemented to As(III)/As(V) treatments suggesting GSH and Cys-mediated protection against oxidative stress. The arsenic content was highest in roots of seedlings grown in As(III) in the presence of GSH/Cys. However, in case of As(V) plus GSH or Cys, the arsenic content in seedlings was highest in shoots. The results are suggestive of differential metabolism of As(III) and As(V) in rice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abiotic stress in plants is a crucial issue worldwide, especially heavy-metal contaminants, salinity, and drought. These stresses may raise a lot of issues such as the generation of reactive oxygen species, membrane damage, loss of photosynthetic efficiency, etc. that could alter crop growth and developments by affecting biochemical, physiological, and molecular processes, causing a significant loss in productivity. To overcome the impact of these abiotic stressors, many strategies could be considered to support plant growth including the use of nanoparticles (NPs). However, the majority of studies have focused on understanding the toxicity of NPs on aquatic flora and fauna, and relatively less attention has been paid to the topic of the beneficial role of NPs in plants stress response, growth, and development. More scientific attention is required to understand the behavior of NPs on crops under these stress conditions. Therefore, the present work aims to comprehensively review the beneficial roles of NPs in plants under different abiotic stresses, especially heavy metals, salinity, and drought. This review provides deep insights about mechanisms of abiotic stress alleviation in plants under NP application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The rapid pace of industrial, agricultural and anthropogenic activities in the 20th century has resulted in contamination of heavy metals across the globe. Arsenic (As) is a ubiquitous, naturally occurring toxic metalloid, contaminating the soil and water and affecting human health in several countries. Several physicochemical methods exist for the cleanup of As contamination but these are expensive and disastrous to microbes and soil. Plant based remediation approaches are low cost and environmentally safe. Hence, extensive biochemical, molecular and genetic experiments have been conducted to understand plants’ responses to As stress and have led to the identification of potential genes. The available knowledge needs to be utilized to either reduce As accumulation in crop plants (rice) or to enhance As levels in shoots of hyperaccumulators (Pteris vittata). Gene manipulation using biotechnological tools can be an effective approach to exploit the potential genes (plasmamembrane and vacuolar transporters, glutathione and phytochelatin biosynthetic enzymes, etc.) playing pivotal roles in uptake, translocation, transformation, complexation, and compartmentalization of As in plants. The transgenic plants with increased tolerance to As and altered (increased/decreased) As accumulation have been developed. The need, however, exists to design plants with altered expression of two or more genes for harmonizing various events (like arsenate reduction, arsenite complexation, sequestration and translocation) so as to achieve desirable reduction (crop plants) or increase (phytoremediator plants) in As content. This review sheds light on transgenic approaches adopted to modulate As levels in plants and proposes future directions to achieve desirable results. Highlights • Arsenic is a toxic metalloid and a potential health hazard across the globe. • Arsenic stress responsive mechanisms and responsible crucial genes have been identified. • This review deals with the use of transgenic plants as an effective approach for arsenic removal. • The review also discusses the use of potential genes for lowering arsenic accumulation in crop plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prokaryotic βγ-crystallins are a large group of uncharacterized domains with Ca2+-binding motifs. We have observed that a vast number of these domains are found appended to other domains, in particular, the carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZy) domains. To elucidate the functional significance of these prospective Ca2+ sensors in bacteria and this widespread domain association, we have studied one typical example from Clostridium beijerinckii, a bacterium known for its ability to produce acetone, butanol, and ethanol through fermentation of several carbohydrates. This novel glycoside hydrolase of family 64 (GH64), which we named glucanallin, is composed of a βγ-crystallin domain, a GH64 domain, and a carbohydrate-binding module 56 (CBM56). The substrates of GH64, β-1,3-glucans, are the targets for industrial biofuel production due to their plenitude. We have examined the Ca2+-binding properties of this protein, assayed its enzymatic activity, and analyzed the structural features of the β-1,3-glucanase domain through its high-resolution crystal structure. The reaction products resulting from the enzyme reaction of glucanallin reinforce the mixed nature of GH64 enzymes, in contrast to the prevailing notion of them being an exotype. Upon disabling Ca2+ binding and comparing different domain combinations, we demonstrate that the βγ-crystallin domain in glucanallin acts as a Ca2+ sensor and enhances the glycolytic activity of glucanallin through Ca2+ binding. We also compare the structural peculiarities of this new member of the GH64 family to two previously studied members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]