Biogenic Pt uptake and nanoparticle formation in Medicago sativa and Brassica juncea

Abstract

The ability of the facultative metallophyte plants, Medicago sativa (M. sativa) and Brassica juncea (B. juncea) to accumulate and translocate platinum (Pt) from aqueous substrates is reported. The influence of Pt concentration in the substrate (5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 ppm), exposure time (24, 48 and 72 h) and substrate pH (2, 3, 5, 7 and 9) was determined. In both plants the concentration of Pt increased with substrate concentration and exposure time. Greater accumulation was detected in the roots of M. sativa than B. juncea, up to a maximum of 94.19 mg Pt g−1 (dry biomass) compared with 38.5 mg Pt g−1 (dry biomass) following exposure to 80 ppm Pt after 72 h exposure, respectively. However, at lower substrate concentrations (5 and 20 ppm) greater quantities of Pt were detected in the shoots of B. juncea, ranging between 0.02 and 0.32 mg Pt g−1 (dry biomass) at 5 ppm across the different time intervals studied, compared with 0.02−0.14 mg Pt g−1 (dry biomass) for M. sativa, suggesting B. juncea to be a better translocator of Pt under idealised conditions at low concentrations. Higher Pt uptake was also observed in acidic media, with a maximum at pH 2 for M. sativa and pH 3 for B. juncea, indicating the role of net surface charge on the bioaccumulation of Pt. Once sequestered Pt(II) was reduced to Pt(0) due to the action of local metabolites. TEM images of M. sativa root samples showed the in vivo formation of Pt nanoparticles between 3 and 100 nm in size and of varying morphologies in the epidermal root cells. In vivo Pt distribution profiles were assessed using proton induced X-ray emission (μ-PIXE) spectroscopy, which showed even distribution across all tissue systems (epidermal, cortical and vascular) within the roots of both M. sativa and B. juncea.