Scientists from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos have discovered a plant with a rare quality- the ability to eat nickel.
Dubbed the Rinorea niccolifera, the shrub can accumulate more than 18,000 ppm of nickel in its system without being poisoned.
Such ability to hyperaccumulate heavy metals has been observed in only about 450 vascular plants out of an estimated 300,000 known worldwide. In areas with nickel rich-soil, under one percent of native plant species display the quality.
The new species was discovered on the western part of Luzon Island in the Philippines, an area known for soils rich in heavy metals. The uncommon trait of storing large amounts of rare earth metals without exhibiting signs of poisoning intrigues scientists.
"Hyperaccumulator plants have great potentials for the development of green technologies, for example, 'phytoremediation' and 'phytomining'", said Dr Augustine Doronila of the School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, co-author of the report.
Phytoremediation is the process of using hyperaccumulator plants to remove heavy metals from soils contaminated after industrial and commercial accidents. On the other hand, phytomining is the process of recovering metals by growing hyperaccumulators for harvest in precious metal laden soil.
The rarity of the characteristic leaves few options for commercial ventures attempting to utilize the green technologies. However, with the discovery of the Rinorea niccolifera researchers have another option to explore.
The field surveys and laboratory work of the scientists are part of the research project funded by the Department of Science and Technology — Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD).
The study "Rinorea niccolifera (Violaceae), a new, nickel-hyperaccumulating species from Luzon Island, Philippines" was published in the journal PhytoKeys
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Source : http://dailydigestnews.com/2014/05/rare-metal-eating-plant-discovered-in-philippines/
