Toxicity mechanism of heavy metal copper to plants:A review

Copper is an essential micronutrient for normal growth and development of plant.As copper was used more widely and the dosage increased,emissions of pollutants containing copper gradually increased,leading to excess copper content in plants.This has seriously affected human health and ecosystem stability.The latest research progress at home and abroad was reviewed in this paper on effects of copper on plant growth,cell membrane system,antioxidant en-zyme system,photosynthesis,mineral nutrition absorption and transportation mechanism.The current research on phyto-toxicity caused by copper mainly focused on copper resistance threshold,phytotoxicity physiological mechanism,detoxi-fication effects of plants to copper,etc.Further study should be conducted from the following perspectives:broadening the species of plants,copper stress differential proteins and gene expression identification,identification of heavy metal transport that maintaining cellular homeostasis.These efforts would provide reference for the researches in toxicity mecha-nism of copper to plants.