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The plants also hold potential to be used to mine metals from soils with very high concentrations (phytomining) by growing the plants, then harvesting them for the metals in their tissues. [ 1 ] The genetic advantage of hyperaccumulation of metals may be that the toxic levels of heavy metals in leaves deter herbivores or increase the toxicity ...
May acidify its own rhizosphere, which would facilitate absorption by solubilization of the metal [31] [1]: 19, 891, 898 [32] [33] [34] [42] Zn: Trifolium pratense: Red Clover: Nonmetal accumulator. Its rhizosphere is denser in bacteria than that of Thlaspi caerulescens, but T. caerulescens has relatively more metal-resistant bacteria. [31]
The plant roots must absorb the heavy metal. The plant must chelate the metal to both protect itself and make the metal more mobile (this can also happen before the metal is absorbed). Chelation is a process by which a metal is surrounded and chemically bonded to an organic compound. The plant moves the chelated metal to a place to safely store it.
Phytoremediation technologies use living plants to clean up soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. [1] It is defined as "the use of green plants and the associated microorganisms, along with proper soil amendments and agronomic techniques to either contain, remove or render toxic environmental contaminants harmless". [2]
After a fire at a Monterey County battery storage facility, scientists say high levels of heavy metals were found at a nearby estuary, a home to endangered species.
Such plants are of considerable interest due to their potential use in phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated former mine sites, or potentially even as a means of non-destructive phytomining of metal-rich soils allowing metals to be harvested in an environmentally sustainable manner. [5] [6] [7]
No-till farming, rotating crops and growing cover crops, for example, all help microbes in the soil bind with heavy metals, leaving fewer toxins for plants to absorb.
This plant was used in a phytoremediation experiment to absorb the metal contaminated soil. [6] A form of phytoremediation is known as phytoextraction, which removes the metals from the contaminated soil by absorbing the metals through the roots. [8] It has the ability to uptake a high concentration of metals. This species of plant is a nickel ...