Hyperaccumulators of metal and metalloid trace elements: Facts and fiction
Abstract:
Plants that accumulate metal and metalloid trace elements to extraordinarily high concentrations in their living biomass have inspired much research worldwide during the last decades. Hyperaccumulators have been recorded and experimentally confirmed for elements such as nickel, zinc, cadmium, manganese, arsenic and selenium. However, to date, hyperaccumulation of lead, copper, cobalt, chromium and thallium remain largely unconfirmed. Recent uses of the term in relation to rare-earth elements require critical evaluation. Since the mid-1970s the term ‘hyperaccumulator’ has been used millions of times by thousands of people, with varying degrees of precision, aptness and understanding that have not always corresponded with the views of the originators of the terminology and of the present authors. There is therefore a need to clarify the circumstances in which the term ‘hyperaccumulator’ is appropriate and to set out the conditions that should be met when the terms are used. We outline here the main considerations for establishing metal or metalloid hyperaccumulation status of plants, (re)define some of the terminology and note potential pitfalls. Unambiguous communication will require the international scientific community to adopt standard terminology and methods for confirming the reliability of analytical data in relation to metal and metalloid hyperaccumulators.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Accumulation of trace elements in Tussilago farfara colonizing post-flotation tailing sites in Serbia.
Ksenija Jakovljević,Tomica Mišljenović,Jelena Savovic,Dragan Rankovic,Dragana Ranđelović,Nevena Mihailović,Slobodan Jovanović +6 more
TL;DR: The obtained results indicate that the use of T. farfara from such sites in traditional medicine could pose a risk to human health due to accumulation of several toxic elements in the plant’s aboveground tissues.
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Arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata shows reduced biomass in soils with high arsenic and low nutrient availability, leading to increased arsenic leaching from soil.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used synchrotron-based spectromicroscopy to study the effect of fertilizer and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on Pteris vittata uptake and leaching from soil.
Journal ArticleDOI
Metal hyperaccumulation patterns within Plantago phylogeny (Plantaginaceae)
Helena Cristina Serrano,Helena Cotrim,Manuel João Pinto,Maria Amélia Martins-Loução,Cristina Branquinho +4 more
TL;DR: This work suggests that the Al-hyperaccumulation trait is common in Plantago, especially in P. Coronopus, and contributes to the scarce knowledge of that uncommon trait, namely in Mediterranean plants.
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From sea squirts to squirrelfish: facultative trace element hyperaccumulation in animals
TL;DR: Examples of animal hyperaccumulation of the elements arsenic, copper, iron, titanium, vanadium and zinc are examined, describing mechanisms by which accumulation occurs and, where possible, hypothesizing functional roles.
Journal Article
Phytoremediation of Soils Contaminated with Heavy Metals Resulting from Acidic Sludge of Eshtehard Industrial Town using Native Pasture Plants
TL;DR: In this paper, the hyperaccumulation and phytostabilization potential of the plants in the Eshtehard industrial area were investigated, including Atenuifolia, N. persica, B. tectorum, P.aucheri and P.harmala.
References
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Terrestrial higher plants which hyperaccumulate metallic elements. a review of their distribution, ecology and phytochemistry
TL;DR: Phytochemical studies suggest that hyperaccumulation is closely linked to the mechanism of metal tolerance involved in the successful colonization of metalliferous and otherwise phytotoxic soils.
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Accumulators and excluders ?strategies in the response of plants to heavy metals
TL;DR: In this paper, two basic strategies of plant response are suggested, accumulators and excluders, which do not generally suppress metal uptake but result in internal detoxification, and indicators are seen as a further mode of response where proportional relationships exist between metal levels in the soil, uptake and accumulation in plant parts.
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A fern that hyperaccumulates arsenic
TL;DR: A hardy, versatile, fast-growing plant that helps to remove arsenic from contaminated soils.
Journal ArticleDOI
Zinc in plants
Martin R. Broadley,Philip J. White,John P. Hammond,Ivan Zelko,Ivan Zelko,Alexander Lux,Alexander Lux +6 more
TL;DR: The dominant fluxes of Zn in the soil-root-shoot continuum are described, including Zn inputs to soils, the plant availability of soluble Zn(2+) at the root surface, and plant uptake and accumulation of ZN.
Book
Phytoremediation of toxic metals : using plants to clean up the environment
Ilya Raskin,Burt D. Ensley +1 more
TL;DR: Why Use Phytoremediation?