Heavy Metal Hyperaccumulation Research Articles

Screening for the next generation heavy metal hyperaccumulators for dryland decontamination

Heavy metal removal by plants bears a great potential to decontaminate soils. A major challenge remains to find plant species that accumulate heavy metal, harbor a sufficient biomass and grow in the desired environmental conditions. Here we present candidate plants for phytoremediation in arid climates. We sampled sixteen dominant plants from mining area naturally polluted with high Pb-Zn and Cd concentration. Plants were assessed for their ability to accumulate Zn, Pb and Cd and six species were selected on the base of their heavy metal concentration in shoots and leaves, enrichment coefficient and translocation factor. Out of all the tested species in field study, Alcea aucheri was the most promising one which accumulated over than 460 and 4089μg/g Pb in the roots and shoots, respectively. We confirmed this ability with a greenhouse experiment on soil spiked with different Pb and Cd concentrations. Concentration of Pb and Cd in aerial parts of A. aucheri were more than 1700 and 345μg/g in 2400 and 200mg/kg Pb and Cd soil treatment respectively. We propose that A. aucheri as model hyperaccumulator able to live in adverse condition, producing high biomass, and supersede heavy metal accumulation reported to other plants, making of this species one of the best Pb hyperaccumulator reported to date.

Transgenic NfFeSOD Sedum alfredii plants exhibited profound growth impairments and better relative tolerance to long-term abiotic stresses

Transgenic research was preformed by transferring a cyanobacterial (Nostoc flagelliforme) iron superoxide dismutase gene (NfFeSOD) into heavy metal hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii via Agrobacterium-mediated method. Beyond expectation, NfFeSOD-overexpressing S. alfredii plants exhibited profound impairments, including plant growth retardation, abnormal root architecture, and reduced leaf greenness, photosynthetic efficiency and metal accumulation efficiency. Although transgenic plants appeared physiologically sensitive to high temperature, a higher relative biomass growth was still observed under long-term high temperature and osmotic stresses. Further investigation found that reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis of transgenic plants was significantly affected, being ~50 % reduction of H2O2 level relative to wild-type plants. Gene transcription including ROS responsive genes was overall attenuated in transgenic plants, being more significant at normal temperature than at high temperature. In addition, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity was increased nearly twofolds in transgenic plants as compared to wild-type control. It may be inferred that ectopic NfFeSOD overexpression gives rise to a substantial increase of APX activity and leads to a sharp reduction of H2O2 level, thus impairing basal ROS signaling and plant growth. Specific genetic background of S. alfredii may be responsible for this sharp reduction of H2O2 level induced by NfFeSOD overexpression. S. alfredii plant has acclimated to elevated levels of ROS induced by heavy metals in native habitats and should require high ROS levels for basal signaling. We thus suppose that a sustained disturbance of high basal ROS signaling in metal hyperaccumulators may instead incur very sensitive response and thus result in profound growth impairments.

Vacuolar compartmentalization as indispensable component of heavy metal detoxification in plants.

Plant cells orchestrate an array of molecular mechanisms for maintaining plasmatic concentrations of essential heavy metal (HM) ions, for example, iron, zinc and copper, within the optimal functional range. In parallel, concentrations of non-essential HMs and metalloids, for example, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, should be kept below their toxicity threshold levels. Vacuolar compartmentalization is central to HM homeostasis. It depends on two vacuolar pumps (V-ATPase and V-PPase) and a set of tonoplast transporters, which are directly driven by proton motive force, and primary ATP-dependent pumps. While HM non-hyperaccumulator plants largely sequester toxic HMs in root vacuoles, HM hyperaccumulators usually sequester them in leaf cell vacuoles following efficient long-distance translocation. The distinct strategies evolved as a consequence of organ-specific differences particularly in vacuolar transporters and in addition to distinct features in long-distance transport. Recent molecular and functional characterization of tonoplast HM transporters has advanced our understanding of their contribution to HM homeostasis, tolerance and hyperaccumulation. Another important part of the dynamic vacuolar sequestration syndrome involves enhanced vacuolation. It involves vesicular trafficking in HM detoxification. The present review provides an updated account of molecular aspects that contribute to the vacuolar compartmentalization of HMs.

Contrast Effect of Citric Acid and Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid on Cadmium Extractability in Arable Soil

Chelating agents have been proposed to improve the efficiency of phytoextraction of heavy metal hyperaccumulator. However, little studies to elucidate mechanism of chelating agents to increase cadmium(Cd) extractability have been conducted. The objectives of this study were to evaluate effect of different chelating agents on Cd extractability and to determine mechanism of Cd mobilization affected by these agents. An arable soil was spiked with inorganic Cd (CdCl₂) to give a total Cd concentration of 20 mg Cd kg -1 . Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and citric acid (CA) were selected and mixed with the arable soil at the rates of 0 and 5 mmol kg -1 . The mixture soils were incubated at 25°C for 4 weeks in dark condition. Concentration of F1 Cd fractions (water soluble) significantly increased with addition of EDTA but did not changed with addition of CA. Especially; concentration of F5 Cd fractions (residual) significantly increased with addition of CA. Increase in water soluble with EDTA might be attributed to complexation of Cd and EDTA. Dissolved organic carbon concentration significantly increased with EDTA addition, but did not with CA implying that considerable amount of CA was decomposed to inorganic carbon by microorganism. Log activity of carbonate (CO₃ 2- ) which might be generated from CA increased with addition of CA. Increase in residual Cd fraction might be due to precipitation of Cd as CdCO₃. As a result, EDTA was effective in increasing Cd extractability, by contrast CA had significant effect in reducing Cd extractability.

The Phylogenetic Association Between Salt Tolerance and Heavy Metal Hyperaccumulation in Angiosperms

Salt tolerance and heavy metal hyperaccumulation are two rare plant abilities that are heavily studied for their potential to contribute to agricultural sustainability and phytoremediation in response to anthropogenic environmental change. Several observations suggest that it is worth investigating the link between the abilities to tolerate high levels of soil salinity or accumulate more of a particular heavy metal from the soil than most plants. Firstly, several angiosperm families are known to contain both salt tolerant plants (halophytes) and heavy metal hyperaccumulators. Secondly, some halophytes can also accumulate heavy metals. Thirdly, although salinity tolerance and heavy metal hyperaccumulation typically require many physiological or anatomical changes, both have apparently evolved many times in angiosperms and among closely related species. We test for a significant relationship between halophytes and hyperaccumulators in angiosperms using taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses. We test whether there are more angiosperm families with both halophytes and hyperaccumulators than expected by chance, and whether there are more species identified as both halophyte and hyperaccumulator than if the abilities were unconnected. We also test whether halophytes and hyperaccumulators are phylogenetically clustered among species in seven angiosperm families. We find a significant association between halophytes and hyperaccumulators among angiosperm families and that there are significantly more species identified as both halophytes and hyperaccumulators than expected. Halophytes and hyperaccumulators each show low phylogenetic clustering, suggesting these abilities can vary among closely related species. In Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae, halophytes and hyperaccumulators are more closely related than if the two traits evolved independently.

BASIC EXPERIMENTS OF CS UPTAKE CAPABILITY FOR Eleocharis acicularis

<p>Soil in the Fukushima area has been polluted with the radioactive contaminants such as Cs by the accident of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011. Remediation of soil contaminated with radioactive Cs remains one of the most important problems. Phytoremediation is an environmental remediation technique that takes advantage of plant physiology and metabolism to remove radioactive contaminants. Eleocharis acicularis is well known as heavy metal hyperaccumulator aquatic plant and expected as the strong candidate for application to Phytoremediation of polluted water and soil. In this study, a laboratory experiment was carried out to investigate the potential of E.acicularis for Phytoremediation of radioactive Cs contaminated site.The plants were grown hydroponically and placed in solutions containing Cs and K at different concentration (Cs concentration: 5 mg/L, K concentration: 0, 0.2, 2, 5, 50, 100 mg/L) in a period of 21days.In the experimental results, the highest concentration of Cs was 1560 mg/kg-DW in E. acicularis after 21 days. The concentration of Cs in plants decreased with the increasing initial concentration of K in the solution. This results indicate that E. acicularis has the ability to accumulate radioactive Cs from radioactive Cs contaminated soil and water, making it a good candidate species for radioactive Cs Phytoremediation.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords</strong> : Fukushima, Eleocharis acicularis, phytoremediation, Cs</p>

Genome Structure of the Heavy Metal Hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens and Its Stability on Metalliferous and Nonmetalliferous Soils.

Noccaea caerulescens (formerly known as Thlaspi caerulescens), an extremophile heavy metal hyperaccumulator model plant in the Brassicaceae family, is a morphologically and phenotypically diverse species exhibiting metal tolerance and leaf accumulation of zinc, cadmium, and nickel. Here, we provide a detailed genome structure of the approximately 267-Mb N. caerulescens genome, which has descended from seven chromosomes of the ancestral proto-Calepineae Karyotype (n = 7) through an unusually high number of pericentric inversions. Genome analysis in two other related species, Noccaea jankae and Raparia bulbosa, showed that all three species, and thus probably the entire Coluteocarpeae tribe, have descended from the proto-Calepineae Karyotype. All three analyzed species share the chromosome structure of six out of seven chromosomes and an unusually high metal accumulation in leaves, which remains moderate in N. jankae and R. bulbosa and is extreme in N. caerulescens. Among these species, N. caerulescens has the most derived karyotype, with species-specific inversions on chromosome NC6, which grouped onto its bottom arm functionally related genes of zinc and iron metal homeostasis comprising the major candidate genes NICOTIANAMINE SYNTHASE2 and ZINC-INDUCED FACILITATOR-LIKE1. Concurrently, copper and organellar metal homeostasis genes, which are functionally unrelated to the extreme traits characteristic of N. caerulescens, were grouped onto the top arm of NC6. Compared with Arabidopsis thaliana, more distal chromosomal positions in N. caerulescens were enriched among more highly expressed metal homeostasis genes but not among other groups of genes. Thus, chromosome rearrangements could have facilitated the evolution of enhanced metal homeostasis gene expression, a known hallmark of metal hyperaccumulation.

Thermal Characteristics of Hyperaccumulator and Fate of Heavy Metals during Thermal Treatment of Sedum plumbizincicola

Thermal treatment is one of the most promising disposal techniques for heavy metal- (HM)-enriched hyperaccumulators. However, the thermal characteristics and fate of HMs during thermal treatment of hyperaccumulator biomass need to be known in detail. A horizontal tube furnace was used to analyze the disposal process of hyperaccumulator biomass derived from a phyto-extracted field in which the soil was moderately contaminated with heavy metals. Different operational conditions regarding temperature and gas composition were tested. A thermo-dynamic analysis by advanced system for process engineering was performed to predict HM speciation during thermal disposal and SEM-EDS, XRD and sequential chemical extraction were used to characterize the heavy metals. The recovery of Zn, Pb and Cd in bottom ash decreased with increasing temperature but recovery increased in the fly ash. Recovery of Zn, Pb and Cd fluctuated with increasing air flow rate and the metal recovery rates were higher in the fly ash than the bottom ash. Most Cl, S, Fe, Al and SiO2 were found as alkali oxides, SO2, Fe2(SO4)3, iron oxide, Ca3Al2O6, K2SiO3 and SiO2 instead of reacting with HMs. Thus, the HMs were found to occur as the pure metals and their oxides during the combustion process and as the sulfides during the reducing process.

Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with a Sb Accumulator Plant, Ramie (Boehmeria nivea), in an Active Sb Mining.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have great potential for assisting heavy metal hyperaccumulators in the remediation of contaminated soils. However, little information is available about the symbiosis of AMF associated with an antimony (Sb) accumulator plant under natural conditions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the colonization and molecular diversity of AMF associated with the Sb accumulator ramie (Boehmeria nivea) growing in Sb-contaminated soils. Four Sb mine spoils and one adjacent reference area were selected from Xikuangshan in southern China. PCR-DGGE was used to analyze the AMF community composition in ramie roots. Morphological identification was also used to analyze the species in the rhizosphere soil of ramie. Results obtained showed that mycorrhizal symbiosis was established successfully even in the most heavily polluted sites. From the unpolluted site Ref to the highest polluted site T4, the spore numbers and AMF diversity increased at first and then decreased. Colonization increased consistently with the increasing Sb concentrations in the soil. A total of 14 species were identified by morphological analysis. From the total number of species, 4 (29%) belonged to Glomus, 2 (14%) belonged to Acaulospora, 2 (14%) belonged to Funneliformis, 1 (7%) belonged to Claroideoglomus, 1 (7%) belonged to Gigaspora, 1 (7%) belonged to Paraglomus, 1 (7%) belonging to Rhizophagus, 1 (7%) belonging to Sclervocystis, and 1 (7%) belonged to Scutellospora. Some AMF sequences were present even in the most polluted site. Morphological identification and phylogenetic analysis both revealed that most species were affiliated withGlomus, suggesting that Glomus was the dominant genus in this AMF community. This study demonstrated that ramie associated with AMF may have great potential for remediation of Sb-contaminated soils.

Transfer of heavy metals through terrestrial food webs: a review.

Heavy metals are released into the environment by both anthropogenic and natural sources. Highly reactive and often toxic at low concentrations, they may enter soils and groundwater, bioaccumulate in food webs, and adversely affect biota. Heavy metals also may remain in the environment for years, posing long-term risks to life well after point sources of heavy metal pollution have been removed. In this review, we compile studies of the community-level effects of heavy metal pollution, including heavy metal transfer from soils to plants, microbes, invertebrates, and to both small and large mammals (including humans). Many factors contribute to heavy metal accumulation in animals including behavior, physiology, and diet. Biotic effects of heavy metals are often quite different for essential and non-essential heavy metals, and vary depending on the specific metal involved. They also differ for adapted organisms, including metallophyte plants and heavy metal-tolerant insects, which occur in naturally high-metal habitats (such as serpentine soils) and have adaptations that allow them to tolerate exposure to relatively high concentrations of some heavy metals. Some metallophyte plants are hyperaccumulators of certain heavy metals and new technologies using them to clean metal-contaminated soil (phytoextraction) may offer economically attractive solutions to some metal pollution challenges. These new technologies provide incentive to catalog and protect the unique biodiversity of habitats that have naturally high levels of heavy metals.

Cadmium removal by Euglena gracilis is enhanced under anaerobic growth conditions

The facultative protist Euglena gracilis, a heavy metal hyper-accumulator, was grown under photo-heterotrophic and extreme conditions (acidic pH, anaerobiosis and with Cd2+) and biochemically characterized. High biomass (8.5×106cellsmL−1) was reached after 10 days of culture. Under anaerobiosis, photosynthetic activity built up a microaerophilic environment of 0.7% O2, which was sufficient to allow mitochondrial respiratory activity: glutamate and malate were fully consumed, whereas 25–33% of the added glucose was consumed. In anaerobic cells, photosynthesis but not respiration was activated by Cd2+ which induced higher oxidative stress. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were 20 times lower in control cells under anaerobiosis than in aerobiosis, although Cd2+ induced a higher MDA production. Cd2+ stress induced increased contents of chelating thiols (cysteine, glutathione and phytochelatins) and polyphosphate. Biosorption (90%) and intracellular accumulation (30%) were the mechanisms by which anaerobic cells removed Cd2+ from medium, which was 36% higher versus aerobic cells. The present study indicated that E. gracilis has the ability to remove Cd2+ under anaerobic conditions, which might be advantageous for metal removal in sediments from polluted water bodies or bioreactors, where the O2 concentration is particularly low.

Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi at a large-scale antimony mining area in southern China

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have great potential for assisting heavy metal hyperaccumulators in the remediation of contaminated soils. However, little information is available about the community composition of AMF under natural conditions in soils contaminated by antimony (Sb). The objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics of AMF molecular diversity, and to explore the effects of Sb content and soil properties on the AMF community structure in an Sb mining area. Four Sb mine spoils and one adjacent reference area were selected from around the Xikuangshan mine in southern China. The association of AMF molecular diversity and community composition with the rhizosphere soils of the dominant plant species was studied by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Results from all five studied sites showed that the diversity of AMF decreased with increasing Sb concentration. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the AMF community structure was markedly different among these groups. Further redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that Sb contamination was the dominating factor influencing the AMF community structure in the Sb mine area. However, the multivariate analysis showed that, apart from the soil Sb content, extractable nitrogen content and organic matter content also attributed to AMF sequence distribution type. Some AMF sequences were only found in the highly contaminated area and these might be ideal candidates for improving phytoremediation efficiency in Sb mining regions. Gene sequencing analysis revealed that most species were affiliated with Glomus, suggesting that Glomus was the dominant AMF genus in the studied Sb mining area.

Lead heavy metal toxicity induced changes on growth and antioxidative enzymes level in water hyacinths [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.)

BackgroundLead (Pb) heavy metal pollution in water bodies is one of the serious problems across the world. This study was designed to find out the effect of Pb toxicity on physiological and biochemical changes in Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) seedlings.ResultsThe plant growth was significantly inhibited (50%) at 1000 mg/L Pb concentration. Accumulation of Pb was higher in root than in shoot tissues. The maximum level of Pb accumulation was noticed in roots (5.45%) followed by petiole (2.72%) and leaf tissues (0.66%). Increasing the Pb concentration gradually decreased the chlorophyll content. Intracellular distribution of Pb was also studied using SEM-EDX, where the Pb deposition was observed in both root and leaf tissues. MDA content increased in both the leaf and root tissues up to the 400 mg/L Pb treatment and slightly decreased at higher concentrations. The activity of antioxidative enzymes, such as APX and POX, positively correlated with Pb treatment, while in the case of SOD and CAT enzymes increased up to 800 mg/L treatment and then slightly decreased at higher concentration in both leaf and root tissues.ConclusionsThese results suggest that water hyacinth plants have efficient mechanism to tolerate Pb toxicity, as evidenced by an increased level of antioxidative enzymes. Results clearly indicate that water hyacinth is a feasible plant for hyperaccumulation of heavy metals from polluted wetlands.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40529-014-0054-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Selective uptake, distribution, and redistribution of 109Cd, 57Co, 65Zn, 63Ni, and 134Cs via xylem and phloem in the heavy metal hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L

The focus of this article was to explore the translocation of (109)Cd, (57)Co, (65)Zn, (63)Ni, and (134)Cs via xylem and phloem in the newly found hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L. Two experiments with the uptake via the roots and transport of (109)Cd, (57)Co, and (65)Zn labeled by roots, and the redistribution of (109)Cd, (65)Zn, (57)Co, (63)Ni, and (134)Cs using flap label in S. nigrum in a hydroponic culture with a standard nutrient solution were conducted. The results showed that (109)Cd added for 24h to the nutrient medium of young plants was rapidly taken up, transferred to the shoot, and accumulated in the cotyledons and the oldest leaves but was not efficiently redistributed within the shoot afterward leading to a rather low content in the fruits. In contrast, (57)Co was more slowly taken up and released to the shoot, but afterward, this element was redistributed from older leaves to younger leaves and maturing fruits. (65)Zn was rapidly taken up and transferred to the shoot (mainly to the youngest leaves and not to the cotyledons). Afterward, this radionuclide was redistributed within the shoot to the youngest organs and finally accumulated in the maturing fruits. After flap labeling, all five heavy metals tested ((109)Cd, (57)Co, (65)Zn, (63)Ni, (134)Cs) were exported from the labeled leaf and redistributed within the plant. The accumulation in the fruits was most pronounced for (63)Ni and (65)Zn, while a relatively high percentage of (57)Co was finally found in the roots. (134)Cs was roughly in the middle of them. The transport of (109)Cd differed from that previously reported for wheat or lupin and might be important for the potential of S. nigrum to hyperaccumulate cadmium.

Comparative assessment for hyperaccumulatory and phytoremediation capability of three wild weeds.

The composition and the organization of soil are changing rapidly by the diverged mankind activities, leading to the contamination of environment. Several methods are employed to clean up the environment from these kinds of contaminants, but most of them are costly and ineffective to yield optimum results. Phytoremediation is a natural green technology, which is eco-friendly for the removal of toxic metals from the polluted environment. Phytoremediation is a cost-effective technique through which the cleanup of contaminated soil laced with heavy metals is performed by wild weeds and small herbal plants. The phytoremediation technique provides a promising tool for hyperaccumulation of heavy metals; arsenic, lead, mercury, copper, chromium, and nickel, etc., by the wild weeds and that has been discussed here in detail in case of Cannabissativa, Solanum nigrum and Rorippa globosa. In general, weeds that have the intrinsic capacity to accumulate metals into their shoots and roots, have the ability to form phytochelates and formation of stable compound with ions. This behavior of accumulation along with chelate and stable compound formation is utilized as a tool for phytoremediation activity.

Cloning of a new glutathione peroxidase gene from tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and expression analysis under biotic and abiotic stresses.

BackgroundTea plant, Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, a well-known heavy metal hyperaccumulator, possesses a powerful tolerance to heavy metals. The heavy metal stresses lead to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and high concentration of ROS is harmful to plants. The glutathione peroxidase gene has positive function to damage induced by ROS. To understand the mechanism of tolerance to deferent stresses in tea plant, a new glutathione peroxidase gene of tea plant was cloned and its expression pattern was analyzed under abiotic and biotic stresses.ResultsA novel cDNA encoding glutathione peroxidase of tea plant (Camellia sinensis) was isolated by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method and designated as CsGPX2 (GenBank Accession No. JQ247186). This full-length sequence was 917 nucleotides including a 510 bp open reading frame (ORF), which encoded a polypeptide of 169 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence showed high homology with glutathione peroxidases of angiosperms and contained the characteristic conserved motifs of ILAFPCNQF and FTVKD, the highest level of similarity was 85% to a glutathione peroxidase from Ricinus communis (Accession NO. XP_002509790.1). Tissue expression pattern analysis indicated that CsGPX2 expressed similarly in root, stem, leaf and flower of tea plant. The CsGPX2 gene showed strong responses to most abiotic stresses including salinity, heavy metal toxicity, drought, heat, plant hormones, but could not be induced by biotic treatment.ConclusionsThe result suggested that CsGPX2 had potential function in protecting tea plant from peroxidative damage induced by some abiotic stresses.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1999-3110-55-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Reuse of heavy metal-accumulating Cynondon dactylon in remediation of water contaminated by heavy metals

Phytoremediation technology is regarded as a simple and efficient way to remove heavy metals from contaminated soil. A reasonable disposal of metal hyperaccumulators is always a major issue in waste reuse and resource-saving. The heavy metal-accumulating Cynondon dactylon (L.) was investigated where heavy metals were desorbed by a facile acid-treatment. The result indicated that more than 90% of heavy metals (Zn, Pb and Cu) was extracted from Cynondon dactylon with 0.2 mmol ·L−1 HCl. The plant residue was used to adsorb heavy metals ions. The adsorption fitted the Langmuir isotherm model with the saturation adsorption capacity of 9.5 mg ·g−1 Zn2+, 36.2 mg·g−1 Pb2+ and 12.9 mg·g−1 Cu2+, and the surface complexation and the backfilling of heavy metal-imprinting cavities existed simultaneously during the adsorption. The treatment of wastewaters indicated that the plant residue exhibited a high removal rate of 97% for Cu. Also, the material could be recycled. The method offers a new disposal approach for heavy metal hyper-accumulator.

Use of non-hyperaccumulator plant species for the phytoextraction of heavy metals using chelating agents

Soil contamination by heavy metals is a challenge faced by many countries, and engineering technologies to solve this problem are expensive and can cause negative impacts on the environment. One way to minimise the levels of heavy metals in the soil is to use plants that can absorb and accumulate heavy metals into harvestable parts, a process called phytoextraction. Typical plant species used in research involving phytoextraction are heavy metal hyperaccumulators, but plants from this group are not good biomass producers and grow more slowly than most species; thus, they have an important role in helping scientists understand the mechanisms involved in accumulating high amounts of heavy metals without developing symptoms or dying. However, because of their slow growth, it is not practical to use these species for phytoextraction. An alternative approach is to use non-hyperaccumulator plants assisted by chelating agents, which may improve the ability of plants to accumulate more heavy metals than they would naturally. Chelating agents can be synthetic or organic acids, and the advantages and disadvantages of their use in improving the phytoextraction potential of non-hyperaccumulator plants are discussed in this article. We hope to draw attention to ways to improve the phytoextraction potential of non-hyperaccumulator plants that produce a large amount of biomass and to stimulate more research on phytoextraction-inducing substances.

Accumulated Characteristics of Hyperaccumulation <i>Hibiscus esulentus</i> L in Relation to Heavy Metals Cd

The study and selection of heavy metal hyperaccumulation and its planting methods and a rapid and efficient elimination of heavy metals in the contaminated environment are important research focuses to deal with the restoration and controlling of heavy metal contaminated environment. This experiment aims to explore the accumulation and accumulation characteristics of Cd on Hibiscus esulentus L in the simulation heavy metal contaminated environment achieved by pot cultivating techniques. To this end, different concentrations of heavy metal CdSO4 were used as treatment. The results indicated that with increase of the concentration of CdSO4, the accumulation of Cd in Hibiscus esulentus L was increased. When the treatment concentration of CdSO4 was at its highest (100mg/Kg), the accumulation of Cd on the above ground was 0.498mg/gDW, the highest, and that under the ground was 0.117mg/gDW. In view that the relationship of Hibiscus esulentus L of its above ground part(S) and its underground part (R) is S/R>1, experimental evidence shows that it has the basic characteristic of Cd hyperaccumulation.

The proteomics of heavy metal hyperaccumulation by plants

Hyperaccumulators are distinguished from non-hyperaccumulators on the basis of their capacity to extract heavy metal ions from the soil, their more efficient root-to-shoot translocation of these ions and their greater ability to detoxify and sequester heavy metals in the shoot. The understanding of the mechanisms underlying metal ion accumulation has progressed beyond the relevant biochemistry and physiology to encompass the genetic and molecular regulatory systems which differentiate hyperaccumulators from non-hyperaccumulators. This paper reviews the literature surrounding the application of proteomics technology to plant metal hyperaccumulation, in particular involving the elements As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. The hyperaccumulation process across a number of unrelated plant species appears to be associated with proteins involved in energy metabolism, the oxidative stress response and abiotic and biotic stress. The relevance of transducers of the metal stress response to the phenomenon of hyperaccumulation is summarized. Proteomic data complement the more voluminous genomic and transcriptomic data sets in providing a more nuanced picture of the process, and should therefore help in the identification of the major genetic determinants of the hyperaccumulation phenomenon.