Assessment of Cytotoxic and Genotoxic Potential of Heavy Metals in Plants: A Review

Abstract

Heavy metal stress is one of the major problems affecting the agricultural productivity of plants. Soil is contaminated by heavy metals, such as, Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, and As. Plants suffer from oxidative stress upon exposure to heavy metals and lead to cellular damage. Heavy metals induce clastogenecity, aneugenicity, recombinogenicity, gene mutation, and DNA damage. There are several genetic endpoints that can be used as biomarkers of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, e.g., comet assays, micronuclei frequency, meiotic analysis, mitotic analysis, and chromosomal aberrations. Plants are very useful in environmental monitoring and assessment as they provide a very wide range of genetic endpoints. They may be used as biosensors of the genetic toxicity of environmental pollutants.