Omics advancements towards exploring arsenic toxicity and tolerance in plants: a review

Omics approaches provide comprehensive insights into plant arsenic stress responses, setting the stage for engineering arsenic-tolerant crops. Understanding arsenic (As) toxicity in plants is crucial for environmental and agricultural sustainability, considering the implications of As in impacting soil productivity and environmental health. Although some articles already examined the detailed molecular mechanisms behind As toxicity and tolerance, a comprehensive review of recent omics advancements in studying plant responses to As exposure is needed. The present review highlights the valuable contribution of omics approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) to characterize the intricate response to As overall, which could empower As-tolerant plant development. Genomic techniques, such as QTL mapping, GWAS, RAPD, and SSH, hold the potential to provide valuable insights into the genetic diversity and expression patterns associated with the plant response to As stress, highlighting also the power of new advanced technology such as CRISPR-Cas9. Transcriptomics approaches (e.g., microarrays and RNA sequencing) revealed gene expression patterns in plants under As stress, emphasizing the role of sulfur metabolism in As tolerance. Proteomics, using 2-DE combined with MALDI-ToF MS or ESI-MS/MS, offers insights into the stress-inducible proteins and their involvement in As toxicity mitigation, while iTRAQ-based proteomics enabled an understanding of cultivar-specific responses under high As concentration. Metabolomics, with LC-MS, GC-MS, (U)HPLC, and NMR, elucidated small molecule alterations and complex metabolic activities occurring under As plant exposure. Compendium of data and evidence-related tools offers a foundation for advancing As-tolerant plant development and promoting environmental and agricultural resilience.