Iron is an essential mineral element in all living organisms. It is important for many functions in plants, particularly respiration and photosynthesis. However, excess uptake of iron can cause cellular toxicity in plants. Iron toxicity is one of the abiotic stresses leading to poor plant growth and yield, and thus it has been recognized as a serious agricultural problem in acidic soils, or continuously submerged soils.

To overcome this problem, understanding the underlying mechanisms by which plants accumulate excess iron in tissues, and how it arises from the complex interaction of plants with iron in soils, is needed. A better understanding of the plants’ morpho-physiology in association with molecular responses to iron toxicity stress is essential. Agronomic practices or genotypes tolerant to iron toxicity could help to manage this problem.

The role of the genes involved in excess iron regulation mechanisms is crucial to uncover the full picture of how plants deal with iron stress. There are, however, significant knowledge gaps in the understanding of how plants maintain their homeostasis under excess iron conditions. The mechanisms of iron excess and direct or indirect interaction with other metals are poorly understood. Although a limited number of iron-excess tolerant genotypes in some species have been identified, these could serve as a resource for the discovery of key genes and alleles to improve tolerance in more susceptible genotypes. Especially in rice, a plant that suffers from iron toxicity frequently in the field have genomic regions associated with iron tolerance, but no causative gene cloned. This shows that there are important gaps in the understanding of iron excess responses, which could be addressed.

In this research topic, we aim to cover a range of topics related to iron toxicity response and homeostasis in plants, including but not limited to:

- Agronomic strategies to mitigate iron toxicity

- The interaction of plants and soils with iron excess;

- The roles of iron excess-responsive genes in iron homeostasis;

- Molecular signaling and defense mechanisms in plants under iron excess stress;

- Molecular regulation of mechanisms of iron detoxification in plants (exclusion, inclusion and storage);

- The relationship between iron excess and/or deficiency in plants (the key genes or and transcription factors regulating both);

- Development of iron toxicity tolerant plants using various approaches (screening, conventional breeding, QTLs, genetic engineering, genome-editing, etc.);

- Seed iron biofortification and its relation to iron excess in plants;

- Direct and/or indirect interaction of iron excess stress and other metals.

- Oxidative stress caused by iron excess, and ROS detoxification

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