The role of biomarkers in environmental assessment (4). Terrestrial plants
- 1 September 1994
- journal article
- Published by Springer Nature in Ecotoxicology
- Vol. 3 (3) , 180-192
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00117083
Abstract
The potential of metabolites, enzymatic processes and changes in plant performance as biomarkers in environmental assessment is reviewed. Biomarkers may be used as an early warning system of specific or general stress at each biological level, from molecules to ecosystems. The sensitivity of a species and, thus, the efficiency of a biomarker will depend on the degree of already present adaptation to environmental stress and on the homogeneity of the investigated population. Biomarkers for specific environmental stresses are scarce; better known are biomarkers for environmental stress complexes such as heavy metals, physiological drought and extreme temperature or biomarkers as a reaction on a full scale of environmental stresses. It is argued that a battery of biomarkers is necessary to evaluate chemical hazards to species.Keywords
This publication has 54 references indexed in Scilit:
- Pleiotropy in Triazine-Resistant Brassica napusPlant Physiology, 1992
- Are Phytochelatins Involved in Differential Metal Tolerance or Do They Merely Reflect Metal-Imposed Strain?Plant Physiology, 1992
- Influence of photosynthetically active radiation and spectral quality on UV-B-induced polyamine accumulation in soybeanPhytochemistry, 1992
- Cadmium-Sulfide Crystallites in Cd-(γEC)nG Peptide Complexes from TomatoPlant Physiology, 1992
- Heat Shock Proteins in Two Lines of Zea mays L. That Differ in Drought and Heat ResistancePlant Physiology, 1991
- Triazine Resistance in Senecio vulgaris Parental and Nearly Isonuclear Backcrossed Biotypes Is Correlated with Reduced ProductivityPlant Physiology, 1990
- Heavy metal accumulation in the mole,Talpa europea, and earthworms as an indicator of metal bioavailability in terrestrial environmentsBulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1987
- Metal accumulation by the earthworms Lumbricus rubellus, Dendrobaena veneta and Eiseniella tetraedra living in heavy metal polluted sitesEnvironmental Pollution, 1979
- Arginine Decarboxylase of oat seedlingsPhytochemistry, 1979
- Role of Polyamines in SO2-Polluted Pea PlantsJournal of Experimental Botany, 1978