Current Research on the Role of Plant Primary and Secondary Metabolites in Response to Cadmium Stress

Cadmium (Cd) is known to be among the most toxic heavy metals to plants, posing severe risks to human health. Understanding Cd response mechanisms can provide insights into obtaining plants to be used for phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soils and selection of plants with different degrees of Cd tolerance. Metabolites are the end products of cellular regulatory processes and define the cellular phenotype induced by stresses such as Cd toxicity. This chapter aims to summarize the current panorama of research concerning the role of plant metabolites in response to cadmium stress through metabolomic profiling studies as well as studies of preselected compounds in plants exposed to Cd stress.