Signaling responses in plants to heavy metal stress

Heavy metal toxicity is one of the major abiotic stresses leading to hazardous health effects in animals and plants. Because of their high reactivity they can directly influence growth, senescence and energy synthesis processes. In this review a new indirect mechanism of heavy metal action is proposed. This mechanism is connected with the generation of reactive oxygen species ( especially H2O2) and jasmonate and ethylene signaling pathways and shows that toxicity symptoms observed in plants may result from direct heavy metal influence as well as the activity of some signaling molecules induced by the stress action.