Transcription factors involved in plant responses to heavy metal stress adaptation

Heavy metals such as zinc, iron, and nickel are necessary to operate the metabolism and physiological process in plants. Other heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, etc. do not have any known importance in these plant processes. Higher metal levels can hamper these processes due to toxicity but plant have evolved molecular mechanisms to cope with this stress. A wealth of knowledge has been generated on understanding how plants adapt to heavy metals stress by regulating their molecular machinery. Various genes and transcription factors have been identified to play their role in metals stress adaptation. The current chapter focuses on explaining and reviewing the current state of knowledge about transcription factors involved in plant responses to heavy metal stress adaptation.