Effect of Heavy Metals on Root Growth and the Use of Roots as Test Objects

The review discusses various toxic effects of heavy metals on the root growth. The advantages of roots as test objects in the search for compounds with pronounced cytostatic action and in studies of heavy metal toxicity are considered. In contrast to the majority of published works, in which metal effect was judged on the basis of single root growth increment measurements in control and treated plants, the review draws attention to a greater informative value of studying the dynamics of the effect. For this purpose organization of the root growth at cellular level is discussed that makes it possible to use simple measurements for determining selectivity of the effect of substances on various cell growth processes. In addition, the review emphasizes the need to determine lethal concentrations when assessing the observed effects.