Genetic control of metal sequestration in hyper-accumulator plants

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination is an emergent environmental dilemma all over the world, posing serious threat to environment as well as human being by disturbing the ecological balance. There are a number of physical, chemical, and biological techniques applicable worldwide for wastewater treatment, but the phytoremediation techniques are the green, sustainable, and promising solutions to problem of environmental contamination. Studies revealed that there are certain hyper-accumulator genes present in plants, which make them more metal tolerant than non-hyper-accumulator plants species where those genes are absent. In addition, hyper-accumulator plants tackle with heavy metals by activating their responsive genes for chelation, trafficking, and sequestration. Therefore, studying such hyper-accumulator genes opens a gateway for the thorough understanding of phytoremediation techniques.