Zinc Toxicity and Tolerance in Plants

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is vital for optimum growth not only for plants but also for humans. In plants, Zn supplement either from natural resources/soil or exogenous application is essential for better flowering and fruiting. The importance of Zn lies in the fact that it works as a co-factor for up to 300 enzymes, i.e. superoxide dismutase, alcohol dehydrogenase, carbonic anhydrase, RNA polymerase, etc. It stabilizes transcription of DNA–RNA binding effects, regulating protein–protein interactions, and chromatin structure. However, its toxicity poses serious concerns, resulting in stunted shoot growth, leaf tip necrosis, curling of younger leaves and chlorosis. The thin line of optimum range of Zn has drawn attention of a lot of scientists apropos of Zn utilization in agricultural production and sustainability. In this chapter, we focused on the multi-omic studies based on pivotal strategies adopted by plants against Zn toxicity, and the advancements in understanding various attenuation mechanisms to cope with Zn fluctuations in agricultural fields, which will help researchers/breeders for enhancing Zn nutritional contents via genetic and agronomic biofortification and optimizing plant Zn efficiency/toxicity to combat Zn malnutrition in the world.