Manganese uptake and accumulation in a woody hyperaccumulator, Schima superba

Abstract

A wide-spread subtropical tree species, Schima superba (Theaceae), occurring in a Mn mine wasteland, was found to contain unusually high Mn content in the leaf tissues. A pot growth experiment with different Mn treatments was conducted to further illustrate its Mn tolerance, accumulation and relocation capacity. Schima saplings grew well and showed no symptoms of Mn toxicity with Mn supply below 60 mmol/l. Total plant biomass decreased with the increase of Mn supply, but Mn contents in tissues increased significantly, and peaked (62 412.3 mg/kg) in stem at 150 mmol/l treatment. Under all treatments, Mn concentrations in the aboveground tissues were constantly greater than those in roots. When the external Mn supply was over 40 mmol/l, the Mn levels in the leaves and stems all exceeded 10 000 mg/kg, the suggested value for Mn hyperaccumulation. Most of the Mn taken from the substrates were transported to the aboveground tissues, e.g. over 86% accumulated in the aboveground parts at 150 mmol/l treatment. These findings confirmed that Schima superba is a Mn hyperaccumulator.

Leaf manganese accumulation and phosphorus-acquisition efficiency

“…Schima superba (Theaceae) is a Mn-accumulating subtropical tree species native to China [68], without known mechanisms accounting for its Mn accumulation.…”

Heavy metal concentrations in soils and plants in Rongxi Manganese Mine of Chongqing, Southwest of China

“…Plant Cu concentration >100 mg/kg is rare even in the presence of high soil Cu concentrations [7]. In China, plants previously identified as Mn hyperaccumulators are Phytolacca americana [30], Schima superba [16], Polygonum pubescens [31], Polygonum hydropiper [32], etc. In this study, P. lapathifolium could be regarded as the best-performing specimen because it had a Mn concentration of 8433.48 mg/kg in the shoot, approaching the limit of hyperaccumulation.…”

Phytoremediation of Copper-Contaminated Soil

“…Hyperaccumulators of Cd are able to take up >100 mg/ kg d.w. Reeves and Baker 2000 ;Wei et al 2005 ), while hyperaccumulators of As, Co, Cu, and Ni (the most numerous group of known hyperaccumulators) or Pb are able to take up >1,000 mg/kg d.w. (Reeves and Baker 2000 ;Ma et al 2001 ;Srivastava et al 2006 ;Tappero et al 2007 ). To date the highest accumulation has been described for Mn and Zn, where concentration of these elements was above 10,000 mg/kg d.w. (Reeves and Baker 2000 ;Yang et al 2008 ). Hyperaccumulation in plant organs is not limited only to the above-mentioned elements, because we know plants able to accumulate signifi cant amounts of, for example, Al (Jansen et al 2002 ), B (Babaoğlu et al 2004 ), Cr (Zhang et al 2007 ) or Fe (Rodríguez et al 2005 ).…”