Unprecedented bioaccumulation and biomagnification of heavy metals (HMs) in the environment have become a dilemma for all living organisms including plants. HMs at toxic levels have the capability to interact with several vital cellular biomolecules such as nuclear proteins and DNA, leading to excessive augmentation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This would inflict serious morphological, metabolic, and physiological anomalies in plants ranging from chlorosis of shoot to lipid peroxidation and protein degradation. In response, plants are equipped with a repertoire of mechanisms to counteract heavy metal (HM) toxicity. The key elements of these are chelating metals by forming phytochelatins (PCs) or metallothioneins (MTs) metal complex at the intra- and intercellular level, which is followed by the removal of HM ions from sensitive sites or vacuolar sequestration of ligand-metal complex. Nonenzymatically synthesized compounds such as proline (Pro) are able to strengthen metal-detoxification capacity of intracellular antioxidant enzymes. Another important additive component of plant defense system is symbiotic association with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. AM can effectively immobilize HMs and reduce their uptake by host plants via binding metal ions to hyphal cell wall and excreting several extracellular biomolecules. Additionally, AM fungi can enhance activities of antioxidant defense machinery of plants.

Salicylic acid (SA) and gibberellins (GAs), as two important plant growth hormones, play a key role in increasing plant tolerance to abiotic stress. They contribute to the increased plant antioxidant activities in ROS scavenging, which is related to the enzymes involved in H 2 O 2 -detoxifying. In photosynthetic cycles, the endogenous form of these phytohormones enhances photosynthetic properties such as stomatal conductance, net photosynthesis (PN), photosynthetic oxygen evolution, and efficiency of carboxylation. Furthermore, in cell cycle, they are able to influence division and expansion of cell growth in plants under stress, leading to increased growth of radicle cells in a meristem, and ultimately contributing to the increased germination rate and lengths of shoot and root in the stress-affected plants. In the case of crosstalk between SA and GA, exogenous GA 3 can upregulate biosynthesis of SA and consequently result in rising levels of SA, enhancing plant defense response to environmental abiotic stresses. The aim of this paper was to investigate the mechanisms related to GA and SA phytohormones in amelioration of abiotic stress, in particular, heavy metal stress.

Bamboo forests are undoubtedly one of the most abundant nontimber plants on Earth and cover a wide area of tropical and subtropical regions around the world. This amazing plant has unique rapid growth and can play an important role in protecting our planet from pollution and improving the soil. Bamboo can be used as a biofuel, food, and for architecture and construction applications and plays a large role in the local economy by creating job opportunities. The aim of this paper is to review the extraordinary tropical plant bamboo by explaining the mechanisms related to the growth and strength of bamboo and identifying ways to utilize bamboo in industry, employment, climate change mitigation, and soil erosion reduction.

The increased contaminants caused by anthropogenic activities in the environment and the importance of finding pathways to reduce pollution caused the silicon application to be considered an important detoxification agent. Silicon, as a beneficial element, plays an important role in amelioration of abiotic stress, such as an extreme dose of heavy metal in plants. There are several mechanisms involved in silicon mediation in plants, including the reduction of heavy metal uptake by plants, changing pH value, formation of Si heavy metals, and stimulation of enzyme activity, which can work by chemical and physical pathways. The aim of this paper is to investigate the major silicon-related mechanisms that reduce the toxicity of heavy metals in plants and then to assess the role of silicon in increasing the antioxidant enzyme and nonenzyme activities to protect the plant cell.

Plant development processes are regulated by epigenetic alterations that shape nuclear structure, gene expression, and phenotypic plasticity; these alterations can provide the plant with protection from environmental stresses. During plant growth and development, these processes play a significant role in regulating gene expression to remodel chromatin structure. These epigenetic alterations are mainly regulated by transposable elements (TEs) whose abundance in plant genomes results in their interaction with genomes. Thus, TEs are the main source of epigenetic changes and form a substantial part of the plant genome. Furthermore, TEs can be activated under stress conditions, and activated elements cause mutagenic effects and substantial genetic variability. This introduces novel gene functions and structural variation in the insertion sites and primarily contributes to epigenetic modifications. Altogether, these modifications indirectly or directly provide the ability to withstand environmental stresses. In recent years, many studies have shown that TE methylation plays a major role in the evolution of the plant genome through epigenetic process that regulate gene imprinting, thereby upholding genome stability. The induced genetic rearrangements and insertions of mobile genetic elements in regions of active euchromatin contribute to genome alteration, leading to genomic stress. These TE-mediated epigenetic modifications lead to phenotypic diversity, genetic variation, and environmental stress tolerance. Thus, TE methylation is essential for plant evolution and stress adaptation, and TEs hold a relevant military position in the plant genome. High-throughput techniques have greatly advanced the understanding of TE-mediated gene expression and its associations with genome methylation and suggest that controlled mobilization of TEs could be used for crop breeding. However, development application in this area has been limited, and an integrated view of TE function and subsequent processes is lacking. In this review, we explore the enormous diversity and likely functions of the TE repertoire in adaptive evolution and discuss some recent examples of how TEs impact gene expression in plant development and stress adaptation.