Cadmium Uptake by Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): An Overview

Abstract

Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that may be detected in soils and plants. Wheat, as a food consumed by 60% of the world's population, may uptake a high quantity of Cd through its roots and translocate Cd to the shoots and grains thus posing risks to human health. Therefore, we tried to explore the journey of Cd in wheat via a review of several papers. Cadmium may reach the root cells by some transporters (such as zinc-regulated transporter/iron-regulated transporter-like protein, low-a ffinity calcium transporters, and natural resistance-associated macrophages), and some cation channels or Cd chelates via yellow stripe 1-like proteins. In addition, some of the effective factors regarding Cd uptake into wheat, such as pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC), Fe and Mn oxide content, and soil texture (clay content), were investigated in this paper. Increasing Fe and Mn oxide content and clay minerals may decrease the Cd uptake by plants, whereas reducing pH and CEC may increase it. In addition, the feasibility of methods to diminish Cd accumulation in wheat was studied. Amongst agronomic approaches for decreasing the uptake of Cd by wheat, using organic amendments is most effective. Using biochar might reduce the Cd accumulation in wheat grains by up to 97.8%.

Keywords

biochar; cadmium; silicon; uptake; wheat

Published in

Plants
2020, volume: 9, number: 4, article number: 500
Publisher: MDPI

SLU Authors

• Abedi, Tayebeh

  • Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science
Environmental Sciences

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9040500

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/106824