Plant–Microbe Interaction for Heavy Metal Tolerance and Detoxification

Metal contamination in soil and water is increasing at an alarming rate due to geogenic and anthropogenic activities. Increasing human population leads to extensive developmental activities and industrialization, which results in the generation and discharge of wastewater- containing metal polluting the aquatic and soil. Continuous release and discharge of metal-containing waste lead to metal enrichment in soil and water. Plants absorb metals from soil and water with nutrients and concentrate in the tissues and show phytotoxic symptoms, which hampers the plant growth and development and overall productivity. The microbes associated with plant’s rhizosphere play a very important role in metal mobilization, uptake, and detoxification. Understanding plant–microbe interactions under metal stress would help in developing better agronomic and environmental practices for detoxifying metal toxicity to promote better plant growth for more productivity and environmental sustainability.