ABSTRACT
Heavy metals (HMs) have been contaminating the earth much before the emergence of humans through natural geological activities. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the industrial revolution, followed by the rapid development of industries across the globe has fuelled the anthropogenic cause of heavy metal (HM) pollution. Presently HM pollution is a menace and is affecting the lives of all the biotic components of the ecosystem. Plants, being static are far more prone to HM pollution as compared to animals. They have thus devised several adaptive strategies to counter the pollution of HMs. There are several strategies for countering the metal contamination issue by the plant. Some plants tend to avoid metal contamination by attenuating the entry in their body through some protective morphological adaptations while others effectively compartmentalize the uptaken HMs in the intracellular organelles so that there is minimal toxicity response. Other strategies involve some biological chelators which make the HMs inactive both from a movement and chemical point of view. The compartmentalization involves the role of many proteins which act as carriers of the HMs. In addition to it, under a high concentration of HMs, plants also activate their signal transduction pathways and oxidative stress responses which are also unique in their aspects involving the tuning of micro-RNAs and long non-coding RNAs’ regulation in Metallo-stress management. All of these processes result in the detoxification of HMs so that the deleterious effects of HMs are minimized. This 164chapter is an attempt to illustrate various mechanisms involved in the detoxification process of HMs by the plants. Efforts have also been taken to delve into the molecular mechanisms of detoxification for a clearer representation of the entire process.
