Extreme nickel hyperaccumulation in the vascular tracts of the tree Phyllanthus balgooyi from Borneo

Jolanta Mesjasz-Przybylowicz, Wojciech Przybylowicz, Alban Barnabas, Antony van der Ent*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Phyllanthus balgooyi (Phyllanthaceae), one of > 20 nickel (Ni) hyperaccumulator plant species known in Sabah (Malaysia) on the island of Borneo, is remarkable because it contains > 16 wt% Ni in its phloem sap, the second highest concentration of Ni in any living material in the world (after Pycnandra acuminata (Sapotaceae) from New Caledonia with 25 wt% Ni in latex). This study focused on the tissue-level distribution of Ni and other elements in the leaves, petioles and stem of P. balgooyi using nuclear microprobe imaging (micro-PIXE). The results show that in the stems and petioles of P. balgooyi Ni concentrations were very high in the phloem, while in the leaves there was significant enrichment of this element in the major vascular bundles. In the leaves, cobalt (Co) was codistributed with Ni, while the distribution of manganese (Mn) was different. The highest enrichment of calcium (Ca) in the stems was in the periderm, the epidermis and subepidermis of the petiole, and in the palisade mesophyll of the leaf. Preferential accumulation of Ni in the vascular tracts suggests that Ni is present in a metabolically active form. The elemental distribution of P. balgooyi differs from those of many other Ni hyperaccumulator plant species from around the world where Ni is preferentially accumulated in leaf epidermal cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1513-1526
Number of pages14
JournalNew Phytologist
Volume209
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Phyllanthus balgooyi
  • Elemental distribution
  • Hyperaccumulator
  • Micro-PIXE
  • Nuclear microprobe
  • Phloem
  • X-ray microanalysis

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