Molecular Dissection of The Cellular Mechanisms Involved In Nickel Hyperaccumulation in Plants

Hyperaccumulator plant species are able to accumulate between 1-5% of their biomass as metal. However, these plants are often small, slow growing, and do not produce a high biomass. Phytoextraction, a cost-effective, in situ, plant based approach to soil remediation takes advantage of the remarkable ability of hyperaccumulating plants to concentrate metals from the soil and accumulate them in their harvestable, above-ground tissues. However, to make use of the valuable genetic resources identified in metal hyperaccumulating species, it will be necessary to transfer this material to high biomass rapidly growing crop plants. These plants would then be ideally suited to the phytoremediation process, having the ability to produce large amount of metal-rich plant biomass for rapid harvest and soil cleanup. Although progress is being made in understanding the genetic basis of metal hyperaccumulation a more complete understanding will be necessary before we can take full advantage of the genetic potential of these plants