Response mechanisms of plants to heavy metal pollution: Possibility of using macrophytes for remediation of contaminated aquatic environments

Abstract

Water contamination by heavy metals is a growing concern among public officials and citizens due to their high potential toxicity to living things and the environment. Macrophytes have been studieds for use in a cleaning up polluted water bodies, due to their favorable characteristics. The various species can respond differently to environments contaminated with heavy metals. They can be sensitive, showing symptoms of toxicity and intolerant of high contamination levels, or tolerant, using extra or intracellular mechanisms to allow them to grow in the presence of these contaminants. In this review, we present the main mechanisms used by plants in response to contamination by heavy metals.