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Review
. 2015 May 29;7(6):4199-239.
doi: 10.3390/nu7064199.

Selenium cycling across soil-plant-atmosphere interfaces: a critical review

Lenny H E Winkel  1   2 , Bas Vriens  3   4 , Gerrad D Jones  5 , Leila S Schneider  6 , Elizabeth Pilon-Smits  7 , Gary S Bañuelos  8
Affiliations
Review

Selenium cycling across soil-plant-atmosphere interfaces: a critical review

Lenny H E Winkel et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Selenium (Se) is an essential element for humans and animals, which occurs ubiquitously in the environment. It is present in trace amounts in both organic and inorganic forms in marine and freshwater systems, soils, biomass and in the atmosphere. Low Se levels in certain terrestrial environments have resulted in Se deficiency in humans, while elevated Se levels in waters and soils can be toxic and result in the death of aquatic wildlife and other animals. Human dietary Se intake is largely governed by Se concentrations in plants, which are controlled by root uptake of Se as a function of soil Se concentrations, speciation and bioavailability. In addition, plants and microorganisms can biomethylate Se, which can result in a loss of Se to the atmosphere. The mobilization of Se across soil-plant-atmosphere interfaces is thus of crucial importance for human Se status. This review gives an overview of current knowledge on Se cycling with a specific focus on soil-plant-atmosphere interfaces. Sources, speciation and mobility of Se in soils and plants will be discussed as well as Se hyperaccumulation by plants, biofortification and biomethylation. Future research on Se cycling in the environment is essential to minimize the adverse health effects associated with unsafe environmental Se levels.

Keywords: atmosphere; biofortification; biomethylation; environment; hyperaccumulation; plants; selenium; soil; speciation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of Se species, pathways and transformations in soil, water, atmosphere and their interfaces. Abiotic and biotic fluxes and transformations are indicated in italics at the corresponding arrows. Potential immobilization processes in soils are listed in the frame-inset.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot illustrating large-scale nonlinearities between soil Se and soil organic carbon (a,b) and soil pH (c,d) in the United States (a,c) and Western Europe (b,d). Soil Se analyses were published by the USGS (2014) [155] and Reimann et al. (2014) [156] and the organic carbon and pH data were published by Hengl et al. (2014) [167].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overview of major pathways of Se at the soil-plant-atmosphere interface. The transport- and transformation processes of Se in higher plants are indicated in italics at the corresponding arrows. Compounds indicated with an asterisk are thought to only occur in Se-accumulator plants.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic diagram of the biochemical reactions in the uptake and metabolism of Se in plants and microorganisms. Identified catalyzing enzymes and their Enzyme Commission (EC) numbers are indicated in orange at the corresponding reactions. Major (intermediate) compounds are indicated in bold. Information was compiled from previous reviews [11,34,49,55,117,185,193,194,195].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic of the biochemical reactions involved in Se methylation in plants and microorganisms. Identified catalyzing enzymes and their EC numbers are given in orange at the corresponding pathways. Major (intermediate) compounds and volatile end-products are indicated in bold. Information is compiled from previous reviews [11,34,49,55,117,184,193,194,195].
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