Metals uptake into plants

Although the soil humates may be agents in the concentration of iron and facilitate iron uptake into plants it is by no means certain that the humates are bringing about the concentration of other metals in plants. 

Based on these advances, several attempts have been made to improve plants for phytoremediation, and to modify the metal uptake into crops. The at best partial success of the latter efforts, however, have shown that many questions concerning Cd (and other metals as well) accumulation stUl remain open and have to be answered before the aims of making better crop plants, improving phytoremediation technology, and understanding general principles of metal metabolism, can be fully reached. In our opinion, based on what we described in this chapter, future efforts should put a strong focus on... 

As we saw in Chapter 7, zinc uptake in plants involves proteins of the ZIP family, some of which are root specific while others are found in both roots and shoots. The transport of zinc from the cytosol in many organisms is often associated with members of the cation diffusion facility (CDF) family. Although there are 12 predicted family members in Arabidopsis, only one, MTP1, has been characterized, which seems to function in the transport of Zn into the vacuole. Two members of the heavy metal ATPase (HMA) family, HMA2 and HMA4, have been shown to function in the transport of zinc out of the cells across the plasma membrane. 

The adsorption of ions on iron oxides regulates the mobility of species in various parts of the ecosystem (biota, soils, rivers, lakes, oceans) and thereby their transport betv een these parts. Examples are the uptake of plant nutrients from soil and the movement of pesticides and other pollutants from soils into aquatic systems. In such environments various ions often compete with each other for adsorption sites. Adsorption is the essential precursor of metal substitution (see Chap. 3), dissolution reactions (see Chap. 12) and many interconversions (see Chap. 14). It also has a role in the synthesis of iron oxides and in crystal growth. In industry, adsorption on iron oxides is of relevance to flotation processes, water pollution control and waste and anticorrosion treatments. 

York and New England are devoid of fish due to the effects of acid rain. Indirect effects of the low pH values associated with acid rain also affect organisms. As noted in Table 13.1, one of the properties of an acid is the ability to dissolve certain metals. This has a profound effect on soil subjected to acid rain. Acid rain can mobilize metal ions such as aluminum, iron, and manganese in the basin surrounding a lake. This not only depletes the soil of these cations disrupting nutrient uptake in plants, but also introduces toxic metals into the aquatic system. 

Trace elements on the surfaces of fly ash particles that are accessible to humans through air, soil, water, can affect health in several ways. The pathways by which metals from CCP may cause harm include (1) soil deposition and resulting plant uptake of metals and subsequent movement into the food chain (2) direct ingestion of soil by animals or humans (3) leaching of metals from CCP to water systems and uptake by plants, animals, or humans and (4) inhalation of dust (from soil) or respirable ash particles (Ryan Bryndzia 1997). 

The availability of the analytes for uptake by plants, for transport through the soil, and for dissolution into water can be estimated from a well-studied speciation scheme. Risk assessment for disposal of wastes in landfills or for land disposal of dredge spoils or sewage sludges requires knowledge not only of the total metal content but also of the content in each separate fraction to begin to understand how the metals will act in the environment. Table 5.7 summarizes the methods available for speciation of metals in samples. 

Roots modify their environment quite extensively in many ways. The most important of these are pH change, exudation and microbiological activity in the rhizosphere. Root exudates contain compounds such as hydroxycarboxylic acids and amino acids and these are capable of complexing trace metals. Bowling (1976), Farago (1986) and Streit and Stumm (1993) have discussed the theories of mineral uptake by plant roots the first suggests that there are four links in the uptake chain movement of ions or complexes in the soil to the roots uptake into the root transport across the root to the vascular system and movement to the shoot. 

Recently, attempts have been made to develop biomimetic methods, simulating plant uptake of metals. An example of such a method is DGT (diffusive gradients in thin films), developed by Zhang et al. (2001), for measuring metal availability to plants. In this case, metal accumulation in a chelex layer is measured. By taking into account thickness of the diffusive layer covering the chelex layer and contact time with the soil sample, it is possible to estimate the available metal concentration in the soil solution. The DGT method may also be used to estimate metal speciation in surface water (Zhang 2004). 

Phytoextraction is the best approach to remove the contamination primarily from soil and isolate it, without substantially alternating the soil structure and fertility. It is also referred as phytoaccumulation. As the plant absorbs, concentrates, and accumulates toxic metals and radionuclides from contaminated soils and waters into plant tissues, it is best suited for the remediation of diffusely polluted areas, where pollutants occur only at relatively low concentrations and superficial distribution in soil (Rulkens et al., 1998). Several approaches have been studied to enhance the effectiveness of phytoextraction, including the use of chelators to increase the bioavailability and plant uptake of metal contaminants. In order to make this... 

The acquisition of iron, copper, and zinc in plant roots has been described in Chapter 7. Once within the root epidermal cell, the iron must be transported through the roots to the xylem and thence to the leaves, and this intercellular metal transport is illustrated for dicots in Fig. 8.8 and for monocots in Fig. 8.9. In dicots, Fe, Zn, and Cu are taken up into the symplast by transporters in the epidermis. Reduction of Fe and possibly of Cu by FR02 and acidification of the soil by an Arabidopsis ATPase contribute to increased metal uptake. Metals can then travel through the symplastic space to the vasculature. Transport into the xylem is still not fully characterised. In the case of Fe, it is probably as citrate, and the citrate transporter FRD3 has been shown to efflux citrate into the xylem and is required for Fe transport to the shoot. Zn and Cu are thought to be effluxed into the xylem by... 

The chemical properties of the other essential transition elements simplify their transport properties. For zinc there is only the -f 2 oxidation state, and the hydrolysis of this ion is not a limiting feature of its solubility or transport. Zinc is an essential element for both animals and plants.In general, metal ion uptake into the roots of plants is an extremely complex phenomenon. A cross-sectional diagram of a root is shown in Figure 1.6. It is said that both diffusion... 

The effects of roots on the soil are manifested in the rhizosphere, seldom in the bulk soil (Gobran et al, 1999). For example, Murtoyi et al. (1994) showed that there was a pH decrease of approximately 1 unit in the first mm of soil from the root surface. Proton exudation from roots will release cations from soil colloids, and thus increase cation concentration in soil water and cation uptake into the root-free space (Fig. 1). Some plants also increase rhizosphere pH by taking up NOf instead of NH4 (Taylor and Foy, 1985), thus decreasing metal release from soil colloids and free space metal uptake. 

Heavy metal and radionuclide concentrations in soils increase due to man-made pollution. One of the first entry points of such elements into plant ecosystems is the rhizosphere, defined as the soil under the biological, physical and chemical influence of roots. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, symbiotic microorganisms associated with the roots of many plant species, provide a direct link between soil and roots and affect metal transfer to plants. The present chapter includes recent laboratory work and some research aspects stiU to be adressed on the contribution of AM fungi to plant metal uptake. The necessity to develop new and adapted approaches, such as compartment devices and root-organ cultures, to separate AM to root contribution to metal uptake is emphasized. Available data may be difficult to compare because they were obtained under different experimental conditions. However, they suggest that the transfer of heavy metals from AM fungi to plants may be metal specific. Further research should focus on the mechanisms involved in reduced or improved uptake of metals by mycorrhizal plants, on AM tolerance to metals and radionuclides and on AM functional diversity in polluted soils. AM contribution to metal uptake should also be quantified to include data in models of plant uptake. 

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