New Metal Eating Plant Species Discovered in Philippines

Scientists discovered a new plant species that survives by feeding on metal without being poisoned.

Researchers at the University of Philippines  discovered a new metal eating plant.  The newly found plant species called Rinorea niccolifera, feeds on nickel and accumulates nearly 18,000 parts per million (PPM) of the metal in its leaves without being poisoned.  The amount of nickel accumulated is nearly hundred to thousand times greater than the quantity other plants carry.

This plant is distinct from other plants due to its unique ability to absorb nickel in higher amounts.  This rare phenomenon of absorbing the metal is called Nickel hyperaccumulation and is displayed by just 0.5-1 percent of plant species that are native to the nickel-rich soil. According to the study background, there are nearly 450 species of plants that carry this unusual trait.

The new plant species was discovered by Professor Edwino Fernando, lead author of the study, in the western region of Luzon Island, Philippines, where the soil is rich in heavy metals.

"Hyperacccumulator 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, who is also the co-author of the report.

Phytoemediation means the use of hyperaccumulator plants to eliminate heavy metals that are present in the soils.  Phytomining refers to use of hyperaccumulator plants to grow and harvest with an aim to recover commercially valuable metals embedded in the plant shoots.

One such example of a hyperaccumulator is Thlapsi that is a genus of herbs that is grown in the temperate regions of the Eurasian continent.  They are endemic to China and occur in central and south Europe.  They are hyperaccumulators of heavy metals such as zinc and calcium.

The finding was documented in the journal Phytokeys.