Fluorine: a biohazardous agent for plants and phytoremediation strategies for its removal from the environment

Abstract

Fluorine, one of the most abundant elements found on earth, acts as an environmental xenobiotics even at sparingly low concentrations. Uncontrolled anthropogenic activities have steeply increased the F content in the air, water, and soil. Irrigation of crops and vegetables with F contaminated groundwater or agricultural practices in contaminated soils adversely affect their physiological and biochemical parameters, leading to inhibited growth and productivity. Some plants can translocate the toxic ions from roots to shoots and accumulate them in the edible parts. Bioaccumulations of F have hazardous outcomes, as their concentrations in edible parts can be higher than the safe value. Screening of F hyperaccumulators and F-tolerant plants has been performed to facilitate phytoremediation. Some plant bioindicators have been identified which can be used to analyse the extent of atmospheric F pollution. Cumulative use of these organisms through proper scientific planning programs can potentially improve the agricultural soil quality in terms of their toxic F content. Future research should focus on proper execution of these phytoremediative strategies via robust field trials. High throughput genetic analyses should also be performed to identify quantitative trait loci which can be exploited to generate F-tolerant characters in susceptible crop cultivars.

PHYTOREMEDIATION OF FLUORIDE-CONTAMINATED WATER BY Landoltia punctata

“…Plant growth contributes to increased transpiration; the higher the transpiration, the higher the water uptake (Ren et al, 2015) and, consequently, the higher the fluoride absorption, considering that fluoride passively enters the plant (Xian-chen et al, 2013). Banerjee & Roychoudhury (2019) stated that metabolomic studies should be exhaustively carried out to better understand the routes of fluorine absorption and transport in plant species.…”

The accumulation of fluoride by leaves of woody plants growing in the area of sanitary protection zones in the industrial region of Zaporizhzhya

“…Plants that accumulate more of this pollutant are best at purifying the atmospheric air. While having a discussion concerning their role as a purifying agent, it should be noted that, unlike phenol, according to a number of researchers, fluorides are not metabolized at all and do not move from one organ to the other; their detoxification in the plant cell does not occur at all (Jacobson et al 1966;Banerjee and Roychoudhury 2019). No movement of fluorides from older leaves to younger ones was found either in broad beans or in kale (Guderian 1979), as well as from the apical to basal areas of the crown of spruce (Rozhkov and Mikhailova 1989).…”

Bioaccumulation of Fluoride in Plants and Its Microbially Assisted Remediation: A Review of Biological Processes and Technological Performance

“…Plants are vulnerable to fluoride accumulation, and their growth and development process can be affected negatively even with a lower level of fluoride deposition [196]. However, plants such as Zea mays and Lupinus luteus were found fluoride-tolerant because of their ability of protein synthesis and self-protection against protein degradation [208].…”