Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025
09:13
Hydroponics: A Versatile System to Study Nutrient Allocation and Plant Responses to Nutrient Availability and Exposure to Toxic Elements
Published on: July 13, 2016
32.0K
Interaction between selenium and essential micronutrient elements in plants: A systematic review.
Jia-Ying Gui1, Shen Rao2, Xinru Huang1
1College of Horticulture and Gardening, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, China.
The Science of the Total Environment
|September 12, 2022
Summary
Selenium (Se) influences plant micronutrient levels, affecting essential elements like iron and zinc. Understanding these bidirectional effects is key for managing plant nutrient balance and mitigating toxicity.
Area of Science:
- Plant Science
- Environmental Science
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Microelement nutrient imbalance poses significant environmental challenges, impacting ecosystems.
- While microelements are vital for plant life cycles, their precise control remains difficult due to narrow safe concentration ranges.
- Selenium (Se) is essential for animals and humans, and emerging research highlights its importance in plant micronutrient interactions.
Approach:
- This review systematically analyzes the bidirectional effects of selenium on various plant micronutrients, including iron, zinc, copper, manganese, nickel, molybdenum, sodium, chlorine, and boron.
- The underlying regulatory mechanisms by which selenium influences these micronutrients are examined.
- The role of selenium in alleviating elemental toxicity and adjusting micronutrient concentrations in plants is further explored.
Key Points:
- Selenium modulates plant uptake, accumulation, and detoxification of essential microelements.
- Selenium's influence extends to soil properties, microbial activity, and plant physiological processes like metal chelation and antioxidant defense.
- The review details how selenium impacts gene expression related to element transport and tolerance.
Conclusions:
- Selenium plays a critical, multifaceted role in regulating plant micronutrient homeostasis.
- Understanding selenium-micronutrient interactions is crucial for developing strategies to manage plant nutrition and environmental stress.
- Further research is needed to fully elucidate these complex interactions and their applications.
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