Role of Transporters during Heavy Metals Toxicity in Plants

Under changing climate, plants encounter suboptimal supply of growth factors and heavy metals (HMs) toxicity owing to stressful soil and environmental conditions. The HMs are naturally occurring and heavy atomic weight elements having a density of five times greater than water. A variety of prominent HMs include aluminum (Al), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co) and numerous ions such as Mn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺ are Ni²⁺ are essential micronutrients for plant metabolism yet may be treated as HMs. Although, Cd, chromium (Cr), lead (Pb) and mercury are non-essential metals, but these impart toxic effects on plants and thus adversely affect crop productivity along with posing hazardous intimidations to the climate. Many studies have been conducted on the HMs effect on soil pollution, plant growth and crop yield. However, the toxic metal effect on specific crop plants and specific responses to metal toxicity is still unclear. Different plant proteins act as transporters to transfer HMs from one organelle to the other and further eliminate it out from the plants. This chapter provides comprehensive knowledge about the role of the metal transporters in plant growth and development under HM stress conditions.