Soil acidity is a major environmental stress factor which limits the growth of most crops.
In addition, acid rain produced by the combustion of fossil fuels and they use of nitrogen fertilizers accelerates the acidification of soils. In order to protect ecosystems from acid soil toxicity, as well as to increase crop productivity in acid soils to sustain human population in the next century, our aims are to investigate the molecular mechanisms of Al toxicity and of Al resistance in higher plants from the molecular, physiological, biochemical and genetical points of view. Al enhances iron-mediated lipid peroxidation, which causes cell death. An Al-tolerant cell line selected from cultured tobacco cells contains phenolic antioxidants.