Harnessing hyperaccumulator plants to recover technology‐critical metals: where are we at?
Elizabeth L. Rylott, Antony van der Ent
Abstract
Since its inception over three decades ago, phytomining has finally reached the stage of commercial-scale implementation, at least for nickel. Much potential remains to be realised for other elements, notably cobalt, selenium, and thallium, but this requires scientific impetus leveraging recent advances in insights garnered from molecular mechanisms of hyperaccumulation, domestication and agronomic development. These advances will also enable us to (genetically) improve hyperaccumulators for use in phytomining by targeted breeding, as well as synthetic biology approaches.
Topics & Concepts
HyperaccumulatorPhytoremediationDomesticationBiotechnologyBiologyNanotechnologyBiochemical engineeringEcologyEngineeringMaterials scienceContaminationThallium and Germanium StudiesAluminum toxicity and tolerance in plants and animalsPlant Micronutrient Interactions and Effects