Internal iron biomineralization in Imperata cylindrica, a perennial grass: chemical composition, speciation and plant localization

Abstract

Summary• The analysis of metal distribution in Imperata cylindrica , a perennial grass isolated from the banks of Tinto River (Iberian Pyritic Belt), an extreme acidic environment with high content in metals, has shown a remarkable accumulation of iron. This property has been used to study iron speciation and its distribution among different tissues and structures of the plant.• Mössbauer (MS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to determine the iron species, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to locate iron biominerals among plant tissue structures, and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDAX), X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) and inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-MS) to confirm their elemental composition.• The MS spectral analysis indicated that iron accumulated in this plant mainly as jarosite and ferritin. The presence of jarosite was confirmed by XRD and the distribution of both minerals in structures of different tissues was ascertained by SEM-EDAX analysis.• The convergent results obtained by complementary techniques suggest a complex iron management system in I. cylindrica , probably as a consequence of the environmental conditions of its habitat.

Influence of iron on mineral status of two rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars

“…Mössbauer parameters for ferrihydrite have been reported in studies with plants, such as pea roots and seeds, Canavalia ensiformis, rice and Imperata cylindrica (Goodman and DeKock, 1982;Yariv et al, 1988;Wade et al, 1993;Kilcoyne et al, 2000;Rodriguez et al, 2005). Ferrihydrite is the inorganic compound usually associated with Fe accumulation in ferritin (Chasteen and Harrison, 1999).…”

Revisiting the iron pools in cucumber roots: identification and localization

“…The main Fe component was identified as ferritin or γ-FeOOH precipitated on the surface of the roots. Iron biomineralization at acidic conditions was also observed, producing jarosite on the root surface of a perennial grass (Rodríguez et al 2005, Amils et al 2007. Measuring the roots of cucumber grown in Hoagland nutrient solution three main Fe species could be assigned to the 80 K spectrum of an Fe sufficient cucumber root: Fe III -carboxylate complexes (Fe A ), a ferritin-like hydrous ferric oxide (Fe B ) and a jarosite-like Fe III -sulphate-hydroxide (Fe C ) species (Amils et al 2007, Kovács et al 2009).…”

Mineralogical and chemical characteristics of some natural jarosites

“…Polyak and Provencio (2001 , Table 1) listed jarosite as a "primary speleogenetic by-product" in the Carlsbad caves of southeastern New Mexico, where the sulfate components originated from oxidation of H 2 S to form H 2 SO 4 . Rodriguez et al (2005) reported the presence of jarosite in plant tissues in a perennial grass (Imperata cylindrical) growing along the banks of the Tinto River in the Iberian Pyritic Belt in Spain. Recently, jarosite has been identified as one of the hydrated minerals discovered by the Opportunity Rover at Eagle Crater on Mars (Klingelhö fer et al, 2004), and Milliken et al (2008) report spectral detection of hydronium-bearing jarosite in deposits on the plains surrounding the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars.…”