Plant growth is affected by various abiotic stresses, including water, temperature, light, salt, and heavy metals. Selenium (Se) is not an essential nutrient for plants but plays important roles in alleviating the abiotic stresses suffered by plants. This article summarizes the Se uptake and metabolic processes in plants and the functions of Se in response to water, temperature, light, salt, and heavy metal stresses in plants. Se promotes the uptake of beneficial substances, maintains the stability of plasma membranes, and enhances the activity of various antioxidant enzymes, thus alleviating adverse effects in plants under abiotic stresses. Future research directions on the relationship between Se and abiotic stresses in plants are proposed. This article will further deepen our understanding of the relationship between Se and plants.

Foliar application of selenium (Se) fertilizer has been widely used in the production of Se-rich rice. However, the effect of Se-nanoparticles (SeNPs) fertilizer on rice quality remains largely unknown. Two bioSeNPs fertilizers were applied at different Se concentrations to explore the effect of the foliar application of SeNPs fertilizer on various rice grain qualities. The results showed that Se treatments resulted in 1.93–9.09 and 1.89–7.73 folds of total Se contents in brown and polished rice relative to the CK, respectively. Moreover, the Se treatments led to 1.04–2.33 folds increases in Cd contents, 14.6–26.4% decreases in As contents, a 13.9–16.7% reduction in Cr contents and no changes in Pb contents to that of the CK in rice grains. In addition, SeNPs exhibited no obvious impact on rice eating and cooking quality, and only the XY1 treatment could slightly improve the fatty acid content. Interestingly, Se treatments enhanced the contents of more than half of volatile organic compounds in brown rice. In general, SeNPs fertilizer XY at 6.4 g/ha was identified as the optimum choice for improvement in grain Se contents and grain qualities.