Metalloids in Biology: From Function to Toxicity

Metalloids belong to class of elements that exhibit physiochemical characteristics intermediating between those of metals and non-metals. Some are quasi-essential for the overall growth and development of plants. Silicon, for instance, enhances plant structural integrity, while boron is crucial for cell wall formation, and selenium acts as an antioxidant but some are toxic, like germanium (Ge) and arsenic (As), as they threaten the soil ecosystem and human health. Metalloid toxicity hinges on their cellular concentrations, where low levels aid plant development, whereas high levels cause harmful effects. Thus, it is crucial to encompass the underlying detoxification mechanisms behind metalloid uptake by root system, their transport to other tissues, and their redistribution within and between cells. This book provides a comprehensive elucidation of the valuable insights of metalloids in green agriculture emphasizing management strategies to mitigate their adverse effects through various detoxification pathways, including cell complexation, cell wall binding, efflux, vacuolar sequestration and ultimately redistribution.
Key features:1.Explores databases of metalloid distribution in plants and other habitats. 2.Deliberates about metalloid transporters and detoxification strategies in plants. 3. Describes interaction of metalloids with microbes and their impact on ecophysiology. 4. Unravels the mysteries of metalloid stress in plants by using multi-omics approaches. 5. Covers biological applications of metalloids in sustainable agricultural practices and in human health.This book is aimed to give updated and scientific insights to readers and researchers associated with plant stress physiology, agricultural sciences and environmentalists working for the well-being of the environment. Apart from these, the present book will also be boon for scientists, farmers, teachers and undergraduate and post graduate students as it provides a detailed account of distribution, biochemistry, detoxification mechanisms, and biological applications of metalloids.

Dr. Geetika Sirhindi - Dr. Geetika Sirhindi is a distinguished Professor of Plant Physiology in the Department of Botany at Punjabi University, Patiala. She holds an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. and has garnered several academic honors, including the Nature Publication Group Award in 2007, the A.C. Joshi Memorial Award, and the Hooker Memorial Botanical Society Award from the Department of Botany at Punjabi University for the years 1993-1995. With 17 years of extensive research and teaching experience, Dr. Sirhindi has guided numerous scholars, including 12 Ph.D. awardees, 3 registered Ph.D. candidates, 2 enrolled and 4 M. Phil. students, and 11 M.Sc. dissertation students. She has successfully completed three major research projects funded by SERB-DST and UGC, and she currently collaborates with Godrej Agrovet on an industrial project. Dr. Sirhindi has an impressive publication record with 50 research articles, multiple book chapters, and two edited books. Her academic contributions extend beyond research, as she has participated in 43 general orientation/refresher courses, workshops, women capacity-building programs, and conferences. She has also organized a workshop/conference. Her administrative roles include being a life member of several prestigious societies such as the Indian Society of Plant Physiology, Punjab Academy of Sciences, K. K. Nanda Foundation, Indian Botanical Society, Biotechnology Research Society of India, and the Indian Science Congress. Additionally, she serves as a reviewer for various scientific research journals published by Springer, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, and MDPI. Dr. Sirhindi’s research students have achieved placements at esteemed institutions. Her international academic footprint includes visits to Paris, Switzerland, Japan, the USA, and Russia, underscoring her global engagement in plant physiology research. She has been tirelessly working in field of plant stress physiology and her lab’s recent work focuses on metal toxicity which aligns with objective of the book.

Dr Renu Bhardwaj - With over 40 years of research expertise and 33 years of teaching experience, Dr Renu Bhardwaj is a renowned academic and researcher. Her outstanding list of credentials includes an M.Sc., an MPhil., a Ph.D., and many fellowships (FLESA, FMSET, FICEE, FMSET, FLS). Numerous awards have been given to her, including the Senior Scientist Award, Scientist of the Year Award, CSIR Visiting Associateship, National Environmental Science Academy Fellowship, Fellowship of the Linnean Society, INSA Visiting Fellowship, Nation Builder Award, and Pearl Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. 42 Ph.D. students, 11 M.Phil. students, and 25 M.Sc. projects have been supervised by Dr. Bhardwaj. Major grants from esteemed institutions such as CSIR, UGC, DST, DBT, and MOEF, among others, have financed her research. She has finished twenty significant research projects and handled major departmental funds, such as UGC-DRS and DST-FIST. Her extensive body of work has yielded 500 papers, 7 patents, 8 edited volumes, an i10 index of 268 and over 15,427 citations, as well as a Scopus h-index of 61. She has coordinated and participated in a great deal of seminars, conferences, and capacity-building events. Dr. Bhardwaj has held administrative positions at GNDU as Director of IQAC, Dean of Life Sciences, and Director of Research. She has also had important positions in UGC and NAAC, such as coordinator of peer team visits and women’s capacity-building programs. Several Indian universities and research institutes, Zhejiang University in China, University of Doha in Qatar, and the National Institutes of Health in the United States have all hired her pupils. Due to her significant contributions to research and education, Dr. Bhardwaj is well-known in her field.

Dr Nitika Kapoor - Dr Nitika Kapoor is Assistant Professor at Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India. Dr. Kapoor did M.Sc. (Botany) and Doctorate in Plant Physiology from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab. She has more than 15 years of teaching and research experience in the field of Plant Physiology. Her research interests include Plant Stress Physiology, Biochemistry, Ecophysiology, Phytoremediation, PGPR and Biochar. She has received Junior and Senior research fellowships from UGC-CSIR, MHRD, Govt. of India. She has also been Principle investigator of a Major research project funded by UGC, Govt. of India. She has published more than 17 peer-reviewed research papers in journals of international repute and around 30 book chapters in edited books by Elsevier, Springer, John Wiley, Nova Science Publisher, Taylor and Francis group etc. She has already edited 2 books. She has presented her research work in more than 50 international/ national conferences. She has been reviewer of many peer-reviewed research journals of international repute including Plant Stress (Elsevier), Vegetos (Springer), International Journal of Environmental Research (Springer), Heliyon (Cell Press), Frontiers in Plant Science and Frontiers in Microbiology(Frontiers Media). Dr. Kapoor is life member of Punjab Academy of Sciences, Bioclues Organization and Asia Association of Plant Scientists.

Dr Chandra Shekhar Seth - Dr Chandra Shekhar Seth is an Associate Professor at the Department of Botany, University of Delhi, New Delhi- 110007, Delhi, India. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in Botany from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (U.P.) in 2003 and Ph.D. degree in Botany from University of Lucknow (U.P.) in 2008. He currently teaches the course papers naming Plant physiology and Biochemistry, Topics in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Algae, Environment and Human Welfare at postgraduate level, and Phytohormones assisted abiotic stress management in plants at Ph.D. level. His major research interest area include how various phytohormones particularly Salicyclic acid (SA), Jasmonic acid (JA), and Nitric Oxide (NO) mitigate the heavy metals (HMs) and salinity induce toxicity in plants, photosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism under abiotic stress, and role of nanomaterials in mitigating the HMs and salt stresses in plants. Oxidative stress and tolerance mechanism via antioxidants and phytochelatins, phytoremediation of HMs, potential use of algae as biofuels, nutrients and pigments are other important interesting area of his work. He is the fellow of two prestigious societies naming Fellow of the Academy of Environmental Biology (FAEB) Lucknow-226020 (U.P.) India, and Fellow Society for Plant Research (FSPR) Meerut-250110, UP, India. He has been the Life members of ISCA (The Indian Science Congress Association) Kolkata-700017, India, ISEB (International Society of Environmental Botanist) Lucknow-226001 (U.P.), AEB (The Academy of Environmental Biology) Lucknow-226020 (U.P.), India, ISPM (International Society of Plant Morphologists), New Delhi-110007, India, and DUBS (Delhi University Botanical Society) New Delhi-110007, India. He has already guided more than 25 M.Sc. dissertation, 04 M. Phil, 03 Ph.D. students, and is guiding 06 more Ph.D. students currently in his focused research areas. He has published many peer reviewed excellent research papers, review papers, and several books and book chapters related to this field. He is an internationally recognized reviewer for many journals.