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Plants growing in areas polluted by heavy metals represent excellent models for the investigations related to their potentials for hazardous metals accumulation which further may help in the estimation of plant practical biomonitoring and phytoremediation potentials. In this study, the potentials of the grapevine cultivar Tamjanika from a highly po...
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... Although, it is important to consider that absorption of metals from soil can be strongly influenced by several factors, including redox state, organic matter and clay contents, soil pH, etc. (Alloway 2013;Kabata-Pendias 2011), it has been widely understood that detecting metal levels in plant parts (such as roots) is not a reliable indicator of soil contamination (Alagić et al. 2018). Meanwhile, the concentration of metals in aboveground plant parts has been commonly utilized as a convenient method for assessing airborne contamination. ...
... Meanwhile, the concentration of metals in aboveground plant parts has been commonly utilized as a convenient method for assessing airborne contamination. Many biomonitoring investigations carried out in heavily polluted areas, including mining and metallurgical areas, have been depending on measuring metal concentrations in various plant parts (both washed and unwashed), including stems, branches, leaves, or shoots (Alagić et al. 2018;Khalid 2019;Schreck et al. 2020;Simon et al. 2011). Several researchers have pointed out that concentrations of metal in these regions are derived not only from contaminated soil but also from contaminated atmosphere. ...
... In conclusion, it is worth noting that a variety of higher plants have frequently been observed growing well in the impacted regions. As a result, many researchers have utilized the various parts of these plants as cost-effective and easily available biomonitoring tools (Alagić et al. 2018;Petrović et al. 2021). ...
With a substantial rise in both domestic and worldwide copper mining rates over the past decade, Iran has become a major producer of copper in the Middle East. The increasing need for copper-based products in a variety of industries, including as information technology, electronics, transportation, and construction, is driving this rise. However, the expansion of copper mining activities has led to environmental degradation, particularly in mining sites where potentially hazardous elements (PTEs) have contaminated the soil. Despite these significant environmental impacts, they have often been overlooked, posing long-term environmental challenges as copper extraction continues. This research extensively reviews the literature (from 2000 to 2023) on soil contamination in Iran’s copper mining districts, focusing on PTEs. It evaluates the extent of potentially hazardous elements’ pollution in soils, comparing findings with global data, and explores remediation strategies employed in these regions. Results suggest that studies predominantly center around the Sarcheshmeh copper mine, highlighting copper, lead, and molybdenum as dominant PTE pollutants. Phytoremediation emerges as the primary remediation method used in these areas, indicating Iran's sustainable approach to addressing potentially hazardous elements’ contamination. This review recommends comprehensive monitoring of PTEs across all Iranian copper mines and further exploration of native plant species that successfully grow and stabilize potentially hazardous elements grow in copper mining areas remediation.
... These plant species are of interest for HM phytoremediation purposes, because they are able to accumulate a huge amount of metals in the organs and extract HMs from soil environment (Baker 2000;Vamerali et al. 2010). These species can also be considered as biomonitoring tools for investigating the history of polluted areas (Alagić et al. 2018). Thus, based on the investigation of HMs in these plant parts, one can refer the metal status in the surrounding environment. ...
... Similarly, significant correlations between HM contents in soil and grapevine organs have been reported in previous studies, especially in the case of Cu, Zn, and Cd (Yang et al. 2011;Liu et al. 2016;Alagić et al. 2018;Sun et al. 2018;Mirzaei et al. 2019a). In agreement with these findings, Roba et al. (2016) and Dong et al. (2007) stated that Cd has a high mobility in soil, and it is easily absorbed by roots and transported to aboveground organs; thus, high mobility of this metal can lead to extreme correlation of its concentration in soil, root, and leaf environments. ...
Grapevine varieties possess desirable characteristics for phytoremediation purposes. We investigated the potential of grapevine cv Askari in phytoremediation of heavy metal (HM) pollutions. In total 80 grapevine seedlings were exposed to four levels of HM stress (mild, low, moderate, and severe) in greenhouse condition during two growing years (2018 and 2019). The HM concentrations (Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, and Pb) were subsequently determined in the soils, roots, and grapevine aboveground parts (AGPs), and then phytoextraction and phytostabilization potential assessment indices, i.e., biological absorption coefficient (BAC), bioconcentration factor (BCF), and translocation factor (TF), were calculated. Results led to ranking of the cumulative concentration order of the HMs, i.e.: soils (3476.6) > AGPs (1418.8) > roots (562.2) mg/kg-DW. The mean concentrations ranking order of studied HMs were in soil: Cu (1184.8) > Pb (865.5) > Cd (803.2) > Cr (623.0) > Zn (277.9) mg/kg-DW; roots, Cu (242.0) > Cd (239.5) > Zn (188.8) > Pb (63.5) > Cr (17.2) mg/kg-DW; and AGP environments, Cu (910.2) > Cd (322.9) > Zn (160.3) > Pb (152.9) > Cr (25.3) mg/kg-DW. Principal component analysis results demonstrated the same distribution pattern for the studied HMs between soil, root, and AGP environments, and the highest correlation coefficients were found for Cu, Zn, and Cd. Based on the obtained results (Cu-BAC (> 1), Zn-BCF (> 1), Zn-TF (< 1), Cu-AGP mean concentrations (> 1000 mg/kg-DW), and Cd-AGP mean concentrations (> 100 mg/kg-DW)), it can be concluded that grapevine cv Askari possesses potentials for phytoremediation purposes of Cu, Zn, and Cd. These results were acquired in a greenhouse environment and under controlled conditions; we suggest that the phytoremediation potential of this grapevine variety be assessed in a contaminated vineyard environment as well.
... Nevertheless, rice plants preferentially accumulate more Mn as compared to Fe because the Mn 2+ oxidation needs a higher redox potential than that for Fe 2+ and the oxygen discharged from the root surface is insufficient to oxidise Mn 2+ (Mansfeldt 2004). Fe has been found to have a positive association principally regarding root concentrations (Alagić et al. 2018). Rengel (2000) estimated the Km for low-affinity Mn 2+ uptake to be in the range of 4-400 μM in roots. ...
Micronutrients are crucial for plant development and play a significant role in balanced crop nutrition. The micronutrients, viz. zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn), are essential for plants and humans that are directly or indirectly dependent on plants. These essential mineral elements regulate crucial cellular processes, viz. respiration (Fe and Cu), photosynthesis (Fe, Cu and Mn), and transcription (Zn). The uptake, distribution and storage of micronutrients under physiological conditions should be tightly regulated to guarantee optimum metabolic rates and to evade excessive toxic levels. Variation in the equilibrium of uptake, transport or storage of these nutrients can severely impair cellular metabolism and distress plant development and growth. The micronutrient uptake from the environment, its distribution to several organs and tissues, and subcellular compartmentalisation require the metal to cross various membranes. The intracellular compartments are linked through intricate retrograde signalling cascades to regulate cellular metal homeostasis. Plants have developed complex functional mechanisms to acclimate with variable micronutrient accessibility. These processes are under the regulation of long- and short-distance signalling pathways. Several molecular components involved in micronutrient acquisition in the local and long-range regulatory routes in addition to their putative sites in the signalling cascade have been recognised. All these transport events are strictly regulated at transcriptional and post-translational stages. This short- and long-range incitation works at the fundamental and functional levels to synchronise nutrient homeostasis at the local and systemic levels. A few entities belonging to several gene families are hypothesised to perform key roles in micronutrient dispersal throughout the plant. The integration of these transduction signals acts at the cellular and entire plant levels to maintain nutrient homeostasis at the local and systemic scales.
... The mining waste produced (at least one ton of waste is generated per ton of ore extracted [2]) is usually enriched in toxic trace elements. Therefore, areas that have supported mining activities in the past are potential sources of severe contamination nowadays, and they may pose an unacceptable health risk to neighboring populations [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The layout of the mining material on the site and the climatic, geomorphological, and hydrogeological characteristics of the area determine the mobility of trace elements, both in solution and in particulate form [1,13,14], and, consequently, their potential effects on receiving soils, sediments, groundwater, and surface water [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. ...
An openly accessible cellular automaton has been developed to predict the preferential migration pathways of contaminants by surface runoff in abandoned mining areas. The site where the validation of the results of the Contaminant Mass Transfer Cellular Automaton (CMTCA) has been carried out is situated on the steep flank of a valley in the Spanish northwestern region of Asturias, at the foot of which there is a village with 400 inhabitants, bordered by a stream that flows into a larger river just outside the village. Soil samples were collected from the steep valley flank where the mine adits and spoil heaps are situated, at the foot of the valley, and in the village, including private orchards. Water and sediment samples were also collected from both surface water courses. The concentration of 12 elements, including those associated with the Cu-Co-Ni ore, were analyzed by ICP-OES (Perkin Elmer Optima 3300DV, Waltham, MA, USA) and ICP-MS (Perkin Elmer NexION 2000, Waltham, MA, USA). The spatial representation of the model's results revealed that those areas most likely to be crossed by soil material coming from source zones according to the CMTCA exhibited higher pollution indexes than the rest. The model also predicted where the probabilities of soil mass transfer into the stream were highest. The accuracy of this prediction was corroborated by the results of trace element concentrations in stream sediments, which, for elements associated with the mineral paragenesis (i.e., Cu, Co, Ni, and also As), increased between five-and nine-fold downstream from the predicted main transfer point. Lastly, the river into which the stream discharges is also affected by the mobilization of mined materials, as evidenced by an increase of up to 700% (in the case of Cu), between dissolved concentrations of those same elements upstream and downstream of the confluence of the river and the stream.
... Furthermore, one of the most important and overlooked diet constituents today is represented by minerals (Kuppusamy et al., 2016). People have increased interest to incorporate high nutrient levels with sufficient amounts of essential minerals into the regular diet (Alagić et al., 2018), due to their role as structural components of organs (e.g. bones and teeth) and their involvement in many physiological and metabolic processes (Soetan et al., 2010). ...
Large amounts of peach (Prunus persica) leaves and stems are by-products deriving from peach tree cultivation and canned industries. This work aimed to evaluate mineral nutrients, phenolic and volatile profile and antioxidant activities from the by-products of five peach cultivars (Early Maycrest, Sweet Cap, O’Henry, Flordastar and Rubirich).
Minerals showed significant variations with respect to peach by-product. N showed higher contents in peach leaves among macronutrients, while Mn showed higher contents among micronutrients. Stems had high levels of Ca and traces of micronutrient levels. The HPLC-DAD phenols analysis showed twelve compounds identified (neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acids, catechin and epicatechin, gallic, caffeic, syringic, ferulic and coumaric acids, quercetin-3-rutinoside, quercetin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-galactoside). Flavonols showed the highest values (quercetin-3-galactoside with 70.79–232.16 mg 100g⁻¹ DW, quercetin-3-rutinoside with 63.88–206.37 mg 100g⁻¹ DW), while the least content was observed for anthocyanins. Cultivar had a significantly (P < 0.05) impact on phenolic compounds. Comparing by-products, stems showed higher levels of phenols. The GC-MS volatile compounds analysis revealed 43 compounds in different percentages and occurrences, depending on the cultivar and the by-product. Benzaldehyde was detected as the major volatile leaf component (70–95%), whereas myrcene (18–21%) and terpinolene (18–26%) were found to be the most important compounds in stems. Methanolic extracts of mature leaves were characterized by lower antioxidant capacity. Finally, peach by-products could represent a natural source of minerals, volatiles and phenolic compounds with high antioxidant activities having a great potential use in food products as natural flavouring agents and as nutraceutical supplements and pharmaceutical and cosmetic molecules.
... Antagonistic effect between Na-K and synergies between Na-Ca-Mg highlighted by our results are well known as well (Downton, 1985;Fisarakis et al., 2004), representing important factors to consider in salinity conditions. Results from this study also highlight a strong relation between Mn and all the other minerals considered, except for N. Significant synergy between Mn and Fe in Vitis leaves is also reported by Alagić et al. (2018). Synergy between N and Cu is also reported by Yruela (2018), whereas the synergy between Fe and Ca is confirmed by Amorós et al. (2018). ...
... Cu and Fe appeared not correlated in our results, and interactions among these two elements are still not clearly defined neither in literature. In fact, copper accumulation in soil may diminish iron uptake (Keller, 2015), however Fe-Cu antagonism is not confirmed in leaves, showing positive correlation (Alagić et al., 2018). Table 4 shows the percentage of variability explained by factors and their interactions for each nutrient. ...
Grapevine rootstocks affect the nutritional status of plants and thus the production and the quality of grape. In this study, a screening of mineral level in vine leaves is performed to a series of 35 Vitis hybrids for rootstock selection, in two different growing conditions at two sampling times. Mineral levels were determined by elemental analyzer (N) and ICP-MS (P; K; Mg; Ca; Na; Fe; Cu; Fe) in leave samples. Generally, the effect of growing conditions was predominant, whereas genotype effect and their interaction were significant for N, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Mn and Cu. A cluster analysis was used to identify the affinity of each genotypes to K, Mg and Ca. Furthermore, response of genotypes to the different environments was assessed by a plasticity index. An elastic behavior was shown by 14 genotypes. Within this group, genotypes G.05, G.21, G.71, G.76 and G.77 reported high potassium level, beside the already demonstrated tolerance to water stress.
... The concentrations of As of all of the samples were determined using an atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer (AFS, AFS-933, Company of Jitian, China). The bioaccumulation factor (BCF), the ratio between the root, stem, or leaf to soil concentrations, and a translocation factor (TF), the ratio of metal concentration of a plant stem or leaf to those of the plant root, were used to assess the phytostabilization efficiency of king grass (Alagić et al. 2018;Tošić et al. 2016). Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficients and one-way ANOVAs using SPSS 16.0 statistical software. ...
... Furthermore, a low translocation factor (TF), a low bioaccumulation factor of the shoot (BCF of shoot), and a high bioaccumulation factor of root (BCF of root) represent the most proper indicators of plant usability in phytostabilization, as a phytoremediation method mostly based on metal retention in plant roots (Alagić et al. 2018;Tošić et al. 2016). In comparison with king grass growing in tailings without amendments, the concentrations of Cd, Pb, Zn, and As in t h e r o o t s w e r e 1 9 . ...
A complete orthogonal experiment using a pot test is conducted to investigate the effects of four amendments (biochar, peat, manure, and non-contaminated soil (NCS)) on the metal availability, mobility, and phytostabilization potential of an energy crop, king grass (Pennisetum purpureum × P. thyphoideum), in Pb/Zn mine tailings. The addition of amendments significantly increased the pH and fertility of the tailings, while significantly decreasing the heavy metal available contents in the tailings. The available Cd, Pb, Zn, and As concentrations in the tailings in the treatment amended with biochar+NCS+peat+manure were 51.00%, 36.62%, 50.57%, and 75.88%, respectively, lower than those in the treatment control. The king grass survived in the tailings without amendments, while amendments made the plant grow well or better in the tailings than in NCS. The addition of amendments significantly reduced the content of heavy metals and bioaccumulation factor (BCF) in the plant root but increased the translocation factor (TF) of Cd, Zn, and As and had little effect on the TF of Pb. The TF for heavy metals in plant were lower than one for all of the treatments. During a leaching period of 30 days, the pH of the leachate declined slowly and then maintained at 6.0~6.6. The addition of the amendments significantly reduced the metal concentrations of the leachates, and the highest declines were 50.46%, 20.04%, 41.58%, and 47.04% for Cd, Pb, Zn, and As, respectively. Biochar had a higher immobilization capacity for Cd, Pb, Zn, and As than manure, peat, and NCS. King grass could be used to aid phytostabilization for Cd- and Pb-polluted tailings, and biochar-rich amendments were effective for the in situ immobilization of metals. Further field monitoring is necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of king grass and amendments under the climatic conditions of China.
... Metal tolerance protein 8 (MTP8) was also found to be able to transport both Fe and Mn in Arabidopsis plants, with a particular role in regulating Fe and Mn homeostasis in the seeds . Hence, when Fe is present, it has been found a positive correlation between these two metals, particularly regarding root concentrations (Alagic et al. 2018). ...
The plant kingdom comprises 766 gymnosperms and ~350,000 angiosperms, for which iron (Fe) is an essential and highly demanded nutrient. Iron is necessary for plant growth and development, being involved in a multitude of functions within the plant, including chlorophyll biosynthesis. The understanding of the mechanisms that govern Fe uptake, transport and storage has been the subject of numerous studies since the middle of the twentieth century, but it was only in the 1990s, with the advent of molecular genetics, cheaper genome sequencing and associated bioinformatic techniques, that scientists began to really unveil the detailed molecular networks responsible for regulating iron homeostasis within the plant. Homeostasis must be guaranteed in order to prevent Fe overload and toxicity but also to assure sufficient levels within the plant to exert its numerous roles, since the unalike consequences of both deficiency and toxicity are equally adverse. In this chapter we explore the current knowledge on the different molecular aspects that regulate Fe metabolism in higher plants, looking at Fe uptake and distribution mechanisms, the known signalling molecules and Fe sensing mechanisms, the part of Fe in plant-bacteria symbiosis (including nodulated and non-nodulated plants) and finally, how the molecular aspects of Fe metabolism impact and are impacted by other metals.
In terms of investigating the authentic plant biomonitoring and phytoextraction potentials, the samples of soils and shoots of the sun spurge (SS) and common nettle (CN), were collected near several polluted water bodies in the close vicinity of the copper mining/metallurgical complex in Bor (Serbia) and characterized with regard to the content of heavy metal(oid)s: As, Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn. The methods applied in this work such as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation study, hierarchical cluster analysis, and the calculation of bioaccumulation rates (expressed through the so called mobility ratios, MRs), provided very informative data on the potentials of both investigated pioneer species. The most important findings were: 1) In most cases, SS was more effective in metal extraction/translocation/bioaccumulation than CN, and especially with regard to Cu; in this particular case, extremely high concentrations were recorded and also, some significant MRs were calculated, which may be a signal of its promising potential for Cu-phytoremediation, practically, Cu-phytoextraction; however, generally, the values of most calculated MRs were very low (<1, for both plants); 2) The shoots of both plants reflected soundly the current status of metal presence in the studied environment and they can be recommended for seasonal screenings of a general level of metal pollution in the areas of interest; however, specifically, they cannot reflect quite correctly the level of soil pollution; 3) Soil Cu, and As were detected in alarming concentrations.
