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Rare earth element (hyper)accumulation in some Proteaceae from Queensland, Australia

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Abstract

Background and aims

Proteaceae species strongly acidify their rhizosphere to increase soil phosphorus (P) availability, which also inadvertently increases the availability of other elements, such as manganese and rare earth elements (REE). This study aimed to investigate REE (hyper) accumulation in the Proteaceae genus Helicia from Queensland, Australia, from a systematic assessment of REE concentrations in herbarium specimens and verification with field collected samples.

Methods

Herbarium X-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning (using yttrium as a proxy for REEs) was undertaken on selected Helicia species (Proteaceae) at the Queensland Herbarium, followed by Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analysis and field collection of H. glabriflora samples to confirm the XRF findings.

Results

The herbarium XRF analysis revealed highly anomalous REE concentrations in some Helicia species, reaching ~ 1300 µg Y g-1 in H. australasica and H. glabriflora. The ICP-AES analysis of the herbarium specimens revealed total REE concentrations (REE) of up to 2300 µg g-1 in H. australasica and H. glabriflora, with relatively higher light REEs (~ 70%) and yttrium (~ 20%) concentrations, compared to heavy REEs (~ 10%). The field collected H. glabriflora material had relatively higher total REE concentrations in the mature leaves (~ 850 µg REE g-1) and stems (~ 675 µg REE g-1), compared to young leaves (~ 130 µg REE g-1), roots (~ 220 µg REE g-1) and soil (~ 90 µg REE g-1).

Conclusion

The discovery of REE (hyper)accumulation in these Helicia species suggests that the Proteaceae family may host several other REE hyperaccumulators that are hitherto undiscovered. This calls for systematic assessment of the Proteaceae using the same approach as used in this study. The findings have potential implications for (i) discovery of REE hyperaccumulator plants, (ii) investigation of REE uptake and accumulation in plants and (iii) biogeochemical exploration of buried REE ore deposits.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Director of the Queensland Herbarium (Department of Environment and Science, Toowong, Australia) for permission to access the herbarium collection for conducting XRF measurements, and Gillian Brown for support with this project. This research was funded by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy project ‘‘Extracting Queensland’s Rare Earth Elements Sustainably”. Imam Purwadi is the recipient of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship at The University of Queensland, Australia. This work was supported by the French National Research Agency through the national program “Investissements d’avenir” (ANR-10-LABX-21 - RESSOURCES21).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, INRAE, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France

    Antony van der Ent

  2. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Antony van der Ent, Philip Nti Nkrumah, Imam Purwadi & Peter D. Erskine

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  1. Antony van der Ent
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  2. Philip Nti Nkrumah
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  4. Peter D. Erskine
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Contributions

AVDE, PNN, IP and PDE designed and conducted the study. IP undertook the XRF scanning. AVDE, PNN, PDE undertook the field work. PNN undertook the chemical analysis of the samples. AVDE, PNN, IP and PDE wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Antony van der Ent.

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van der Ent, A., Nkrumah, P.N., Purwadi, I. et al. Rare earth element (hyper)accumulation in some Proteaceae from Queensland, Australia. Plant Soil 485, 247–257 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05805-7

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