Abstract:Heavy metal pollution is one of the major environmental pollution problems in the world. Cadmium is a non-essential heavy metal for plants. Soil and water pollution by cadmium is a serious environmental problem that inhibits plant growth and poses hazards to human health through the food chain. So the heavy metal cadmium uptake in plants is a hot topic in the research field of environmental pollution. In this article, we review recent progress on the tolerance mechanisms of plant response to cadmium stress, including the effects of cadmium on plant growth, plant antioxidant systems and different types of transport protein families. Some key issues in this research field are prospected in the end.