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Fractionations of rare earth elements in plants and their conceptive model

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Abstract

Fractionations of rare earth elements (REEs) and their mechanisms in soybean were studied through application of exogenous mixed REEs under hydroponic conditions. Significant enrichment of middle REEs (MREEs) and heavy REEs (HREEs) was observed in plant roots and leaves respectively, with slight fractionation between light REEs (LREEs) and HREEs in stems. Moreover, the tetrad effect was observed in these organs. Investigations into REE speciation in roots and in the xylem sap using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and nanometer-sized TiO2 adsorption techniques, associated with other controlled experiments, demonstrated that REE fractionations should be dominated by fixation mechanism in roots caused by cell wall absorption and phosphate precipitation, and by the combined effects of fixation mechanism and transport mechanism in aboveground parts caused by solution complexation by intrinsic organic ligands. A conceptive model was established for REE fractionations in plants based on the above studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Ding ShiMing

  2. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Ding ShiMing, Liang Tao & Huang ZeChun

  3. Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China

    Yan JunCai & Zhang ZiLi

  4. State Key Laboratory of Synchrotron Radiation, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Xie YaNing

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  1. Ding ShiMing
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  2. Liang Tao
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  3. Yan JunCai
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  4. Zhang ZiLi
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  5. Huang ZeChun
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Correspondence to Liang Tao.

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Supported by the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40571146 and 20577053)

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Ding, S., Liang, T., Yan, J. et al. Fractionations of rare earth elements in plants and their conceptive model. SCI CHINA SER C 50, 47–55 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-007-2040-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-007-2040-7

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