Abstract
While an excess of metals such as zinc, cadmium or nickel (Ni) is toxic for most plants, about 500 plant species called hyperaccumulators are able to accumulate high amounts of these metals. These plants and the underlying mechanisms are receiving an increasing interest because of their potential use in sustainable biotechnologies such as biofortification, phytoremediation, and phytomining. Among hyperaccumulators, about 400 species scattered in 40 families accumulate Ni. Despite this wide diversity, our current knowledge of the mechanisms involved in Ni accumulation is still limited and mostly restricted to temperate herbaceous Brassicaceae. New Caledonia is an archipelago of the tropical southwest pacific with a third of its surface (5500 km2) covered by Ni-rich soils originating from ultramafic rocks. The rich New Caledonia flora contains 2145 species adapted to these soils, among which 65 are Ni hyperaccumulators, including lianas, shrubs or trees, mostly belonging to the orders Celastrales, Oxalidales, Malpighiales, and Gentianales. We present here our current knowledge on Ni hyperaccumulators from New Caledonia and the latest molecular studies developed to better understand the mechanisms of Ni accumulation in these plants.
Highlights
New Caledonia is an archipelago located in the southwest Pacific off the east coast of Australia (20–23 S, 164–167 E)
No specific study have addressed this question, molecular phylogenetic analyses indicated that Phyllanthus and Psychotria species, including nickel hyperaccumulators, from New Caledonia and the Caribbean region belong to distant clades within these genera (Andersson, 2002; Kathriarachchi et al, 2006; Barrabé, 2013)
New Caledonia hosts a rich and phylogenetically diverse set of Ni hyperaccumulators and offers significant opportunities to broaden our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms involved in Ni hyperaccumulation that was mostly studied so far in European Brassicaceae
Summary
New Caledonia is an archipelago located in the southwest Pacific off the east coast of Australia (20–23 S, 164–167 E). We present here our current knowledge on Ni hyperaccumulators from New Caledonia and the latest molecular studies developed to better understand the mechanisms of Ni accumulation in these plants. Ni concentration exceeding 1% (dry weight) in New Caledonian plants growing on ultramafic soils was first reported in Psychotria gabriellae (previously known as P. douarrei, Rubiaceae), Hybanthus austrocaledonicus, H. caledonicus (Violaceae), Geissois pruinosa (Cunoniaceae), and Homalium guillainii (Salicaceae) (Brooks et al, 1974; Jaffré and Schmid, 1974).
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