Journal of Botany

Legacy and Emerging Contaminants in Plants: From the Gene to the Field


Publishing date
15 Apr 2012
Status
Published
Submission deadline
15 Oct 2011

1Department of Biology, Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

2Laboratory of Plant Ecophysiology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznan, Poland

3Department of Analytical Chemistry, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA


Legacy and Emerging Contaminants in Plants: From the Gene to the Field

Description

Plants have long been exposed to both organic and inorganic contaminants present in soil, water, and air. The phytotoxicity of contaminants such as metals has been known for some time but, due to anthropogenic activities, a generation of emerging contaminants is arising, with unknown consequences for humans and the environment. Although these new compounds include more familiar contaminants such as pesticides and pharmaceutical/personal care products (PPCPs), nanomaterials (NM) are of particular concern due to the exponential increase in their utilization in commercial products. Recent reports on NM risk assessment focused mostly on human health and chemical detection methods, effectively highlighting the severe lack of understanding concerning NM interactions with plants.

In the limited literature that exists, it has been speculated that metal-based nanomaterials (M-NM) (e.g., Ti-NM, Au-NM, and Ag-NM) represent an increased risk to plants. These new metal-based nanomaterials have unique physical and chemical characteristics relative to the corresponding bulk elements and plant toxicologists must determine whether the physiological impacts are similarly unique. A mechanistic understanding of the processes controlling root uptake of metal-based nanomaterials, their subsequent translocation and disposition, as well as plants resistance and detoxification mechanisms, are all of primary importance and are a focus of this special issue. This issue is also interested in research related to all aspects of plant response, from physiology and yield to cell signaling and cascade reactions. In general, articles describing plant-environment interactions, physiology, genotoxicity and cytotoxic effects, and also changes in the proteome and metabolome induced by M-NM in plants are welcome. Toxicological studies on the effects of other emerging nonmetal compounds such as carbon-based nanomaterials in plants are also welcome. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Plant-environment interactions
  • Trophic transfer
  • Bioremediation
  • Physiological responses
  • Cytoxicity
  • Genotoxicity
  • Genomic, proteomic, and metabolic changes
  • Endpoints to evaluate materials phytotoxicity
  • Other general phytotoxicity studies

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jb/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable:


Articles

  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 382717
  • - Editorial

Legacy and Emerging Contaminants in Plants: From the Gene to the Field

Conceição Santos | Helena Oliveira | ... | Jason C. White
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 310705
  • - Review Article

Saline Agriculture in the 21st Century: Using Salt Contaminated Resources to Cope Food Requirements

Bruno Ladeiro
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 369572
  • - Review Article

Phytotoxicity by Lead as Heavy Metal Focus on Oxidative Stress

Sónia Pinho | Bruno Ladeiro
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 219462
  • - Review Article

Aluminium Toxicity Targets in Plants

Sónia Silva
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 751686
  • - Review Article

Environmental Nanoparticles Interactions with Plants: Morphological, Physiological, and Genotoxic Aspects

C. Remédios | F. Rosário | V. Bastos
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 848614
  • - Review Article

Phytotoxicity of Mercury in Plants: A Review

Raquel Azevedo | Eleazar Rodriguez
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 375843
  • - Review Article

Chromium as an Environmental Pollutant: Insights on Induced Plant Toxicity

Helena Oliveira
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 135479
  • - Review Article

Phytotoxicity: An Overview of the Physiological Responses of Plants Exposed to Fungicides

Maria Celeste Dias

Article of the Year Award: Impactful research contributions of 2022, as selected by our Chief Editors. Discover the winning articles.