Lanthanides in the Soil: Routes of Entry, Content, Effect on Plants, and Genotoxicity (a Review)

Lanthanides as a separate group of metals geochemically belong to rare earth elements (REEs). For a long time, they have not received proper attention of researchers, whose interest was focused on other harmful environmental pollutants. However, the importance of REEs for modern technologies along with significant gaps in the knowledge about their effects on living organisms has changed the situation. Thanks to the active interest of researchers, a fairly large body of data on REEs in various areas has been accumulated, including their chemical and physical properties, their potential in engineering and instrumentation, their content in various natural objects, effects on human health, and interaction with other living organisms at the cellular level. This review analyzes and generalizes the new information about REEs as a relevant ecological factor with a special focus on the sources of REEs, specific features in their behavior in the soil, the effects of their interaction with plants, their manifestation, and putative mechanisms at the cellular level. The economic importance of plants to humans as well as their role for the entire biosphere as primary producers and their ability to be among the first ecosystem components that respond to negative changes requires focusing on these issues. The purpose of this review is to emphasize the research aspects that need a deeper insight, in particular, the soil–plant interaction and the effect of REEs on plant cell division.