Advances in heavy metals detoxification, tolerance, accumulation mechanisms, and properties enhancement of Leersia hexandra Swartz

ABSTRACT Heavy metal (HM) pollution is increasingly becoming a serious threat to public and environmental health with more-than-ever rapid industrialization and urbanization activities. Phytoremediation is a sustainable and largely accepted technology because of its low cost, simple operation, environmental safety and recognized as a promising approach for environmental remediation applications. Hyperaccumulator plants are the core of phytoremediation, and the study of their accumulation, detoxification, and HM tolerance mechanisms is fundamental to the progress of phytoremediation. In-depth investigations to understand the physiochemical and dissipation pathways of hyperaccumulators such as Leersia hexandra Swartz (L. hexandra) which can serve as a useful tool in environmental remediation applications. L. hexandra as a chromium hyperaccumulator plant, can also be a remarkable choice to remediate copper and nickel contaminated soils. Therefore, this article summarizes the previous studies on the detoxification strategies/tolerance mechanisms and the enhancement of the properties of L. hexandra, which will inspire its future applications in the sustainable environmental cleanup initiatives.