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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]
It was discovered to be a Zn hyperaccumulator. Because of its ability to extract vast quantities of heavy metals from soils. [19] When grown on mildly polluted soils, a closely related species, Thlaspi ochroleucum, is a heavy metal-tolerant plant, but it accumulates much less Zn in the shoots than T. caerulescens.
Many plants such as mustard plants, alpine pennycress, hemp, and pigweed have proven to be successful at hyperaccumulating contaminants at toxic waste sites. Not all plants are able to accumulate heavy metals or organics pollutants due to differences in the physiology of the plant. [9]
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.
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]
The mycorrhizae allow the plants to increase their biomass, which increases their tolerance to heavy metals.The fungi also stimulate the uptake of heavy metals (such as manganese and cadmium) with the enzymes and organic acids (such as acetic acid and malic acid) that they excrete into their surroundings in order to digest them.
While heavy metals can be naturally excreted by the body through sweat and urine, if they are consumed in high amounts they can accumulate in the body and damage major organs.
Many plant species naturally uptake heavy metals and excess nutrients for a variety of reasons: sequestration, drought resistance, disposal by leaf abscission, interference with other plants, and defense against pathogens and herbivores. [1] Some of these species are better than others and can accumulate extraordinary amounts of these contaminants.