Fluorine: a biohazardous agent for plants and phytoremediation strategies for its removal from the environment

Fluorine, one of the most abundant elements found on earth, acts as an environmental xenobiotics even at sparingly low concentrations. Uncontrolled anthropogenic activities have steeply increased the F content in the air, water, and soil. Irrigation of crops and vegetables with F contaminated groundwater or agricultural practices in contaminated soils adversely affect their physiological and biochemical parameters, leading to inhibited growth and productivity. Some plants can translocate the toxic ions from roots to shoots and accumulate them in the edible parts. Bioaccumulations of F have hazardous outcomes, as their concentrations in edible parts can be higher than the safe value. Screening of F hyperaccumulators and F-tolerant plants has been performed to facilitate phytoremediation. Some plant bioindicators have been identified which can be used to analyse the extent of atmospheric F pollution. Cumulative use of these organisms through proper scientific planning programs can potentially improve the agricultural soil quality in terms of their toxic F content. Future research should focus on proper execution of these phytoremediative strategies via robust field trials. High throughput genetic analyses should also be performed to identify quantitative trait loci which can be exploited to generate F-tolerant characters in susceptible crop cultivars.