Brassinosteroids and Plant Responses to Heavy Metal Stress. An Overview

Abstract

Soil contamination with heavy metals has become a world-wide problem, leading to the loss in agricultural productivity. Plants have a remarkable ability to take up and accumulate heavy metals from their external environment and it is well known that high levels of heavy metals affect different physiological and metabolic processes. Brassinosteroids are considered as the sixth class of plant hormones and they are essential for plant growth and development. These compounds are able of inducing abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this paper, information about brassinosteroids and plant responses to heavy metal stress is reviewed.