Feasibility of Rinorea Niccolifera as an Agent for

Phytomining

A Research presented to
Edna D. Cabase
Ormoc City Senior High School
_____________________________________________

In partial fulfillment of Practical Research 1

Hannie Mae Albios

Julliana Coquilla

Christian Bagarinao

Jonathan Bagarinao

February 2019
 Introduction

Without mining there would be no skyscrapers or railroads, no steel bridges or

steamships, no washing machines or vacuum cleaners, no automobiles or airplanes, no saws or
screwdrivers. There would not even be jewelry or coins. For without mining men could not secure
any of the minerals which serve as raw structural materials, such as iron and copper; supply fuel,
such as coal and petroleum, or are used in the industrial and fine arts, such as silver and gold.

In ancient mines men worked slowly and patiently. Fire and water were used to break
out the metal-bearing ore and men crushed it with crude hammers. Men, women and children
loaded the broken ore into baskets and carried it out of the mines.

Nowadays mining, as one of the basic industries, is on a scientific basis. Fewer lives are
lost and a smaller amount of the mineral is wasted. Men are trained in technical schools and
colleges to specialize in each of the three principal steps of mining.

These are the prospecting, or locating of the mineral; the planning and execution of
profitable ways to mine it; and the making of arrangements for the safety and health of the miners.

However, there are drawbacks in mining because this activity induces environmental
destruction.

But what if mining for precious metals no longer meant descending deep down into the
earth to go find them? What if acquiring minerals such as nickel, zinc, and cadmium was as simple
as planting a few flowers and watching them grow? A concept called “phytomining” could make
just such a phenomenon possible.

Phytomining is the production of a `crop' of a metal by growing high-biomass plants that

accumulate high metal concentrations (Lasat). Certain metals occur in soil that plants will naturally
absorb through their root systems. Plenty of metals are actually poisonous to plants, so most species
will either die from absorbing them or expel them from their tissue before they can do any harm.
Plants classified as “hyperaccumulators”, however, will collect and concentrate these toxic metals
in their tissue. Seeing as these plants often store these metals in their tasty leaves, this may be a
way of deterring herbivores from feeding on them.

The concept of using plants to clean up contaminated environments is not new. About
300 years ago, plants were proposed for use in the treatment of wastewater (Hartman, 1975). At
the end of the 19th century, Thlaspi caerulescens and Viola calaminaraia were the first plant
species documented to accumulate high levels of metals in their aerials parts (Bauman, 1885). In
1935 Byers reported that plants of the genus Astragalus were capable of accumulating up to 0.6%
selenium in dry shoot biomass. One decade later, Minguzzi and Vergano (1948) reported
tolerance and high Zn accumulation in shoots of Thlaspi caerulescens. Despite subsequent
reports claiming identification of Co, Cu, and Mn hyperaccumulators, the existence of plants
hyperaccumulating metals other than Cd, Ni, Se, and Zn has been questioned and requires
additional confirmation (Salt et al., 1995). The idea if using plants to extract metals from
contaminated soil was reintroduced and developed by Utsunamyia (1980) and Chaney (1983),
and the first filed trial on Zn and Cd phytoextraction was conducted in 1991 (Barker et al.) In the
last decade, extensive research has been conducted to investigate the biology of metal
phytoextraction.
Mitch M. Lasat’s study entitled “The Use of Plants for the Removal of Toxic Metals from
Contaminated Soil” found out the following:

Mechanisms of metals uptake into roots and translocation to shoots

Because of their charge, metal ions cannot move freely across the cellular
membranes, which are lipophilic structures. Therefore, ion transport into cells must be
mediated by membrane proteins with transport functions, generically known as
transporters. Transmembrane transporters possess an extracellular binding domain to
which the ions attach just before the transport, and a transmembrane structure which
connects extracellular and intracellular media. The binding domain is receptive only to
specific ions and is responsible for transporter specificity. The transmembrane structure
facilities the transfer of bound ions from extracellular space through the hydrophobic
environment of the membrane into the cell. These transporters are characterized by
certain kinetic parameters, such as transport capacity V max and affinity for ion Km. Vmax
measures the maximum rate of ion transport across the cellular membranes. Km measures
transporter affinity for a specific ion and represents the ion concentration in the external
solution at which the transport rate equals Vmax/2. A low Km value, high affinity,
indicates that high levels of ions are transported into cells even at low external ion
concentration. It is important to note that of the total amount of ions associated with the
root, only a part is adsorbed into cells. A significant ion fraction is physically adsorbed
at the extracellular negatively charged sites (COO) of the root cell walls. The cell wall-
bound fraction cannot be translocated to the shoots and, therefore, cannot be removed by
harvesting shoot biomass (phytoextraction). Thus, it is possible that a plant exhibiting
significant metal accumulation into the root, to express a limited capacity for
phytoextraction. For example, many plants accumulate Pb in roots, but Pb tanslocation
to shoot is very low. In support of this, Blaylock and Huang (1999) concluded that the
limiting step for Pb phytoextraction is the long distance translocation from roots to roots.

Binding to the cell wall is not the only plant mechanism responsible for metal
immobilization into roots and subsequent inhibition of ion translocation to the shoot.
Metals can also be complexed and sequestered in cellular structures (e.g., vacuole)
becoming unavailable for translocation to the shoot (Lasat et al., 1998). In addition, some
plants, coined excluders, possess specialized mechanisms to redtrict metal uptake into
roots. However, the concept of metal exclusion is not well understood (Peterson, 1983).

Uptake of metals in to root cells, the point of entry into living tissues, is a major
importance for the process of phytoextraction. However, for phytoextraction to occur
metals must also be transported from the root to the shoot. Movement of metal-containing
sap from the root to the shoot, termed translocation, is primarily cobtrolled by two
processes:root pressure and leaf transpiration. Following translocation to leaves, metals
can be reabsorbed from the sap into leaf cells. A schematic representation of metal
transport processes that take place in roots and shoots is shown in figure 1.
 Figure 1. Metal uptake and accumulation in
plants
1. A metal fraction is sorb at root surface
2. Bioavailable metal moves across cellular
membrane into root cells
3. A fraction of the metal absorbed into roots is
immobilized in the vacuole
4. Intracellular mobile metal crosses cellular
membranes into root vascular tissue (xylem)
5. Metal is trans located from the root to aerial
tissues (stems and leaves)

Scientists from the University of the Philippines – Los Baños (UPLB) namely Dr. Edwin
Fernando and Dr. Marilyn Quimado from the UPLB college of Forestry and Natural Resources
and Dr. Augustine Doronila from University of Melbourne School of Chemistry discovered a
plant in zambales, Luzon that “eats nickel”. The plant Rinorea Niccolifera” (“niccolum”- Neo
Latin for nickel, “fer” – to yield, to contain), is a shrub that can hyperaccumulate nickel in its
leaves. Specimens have been recorded with more than 18,000 mg of nickel per kg in their tissues,
classifying it as a hyperaccumulator. The ability to hyperaccumulate nickel and store it in shoot
tissues without getting poisoned is rare among plants. Worldwide, only around 450 specimens
are known to have this ability and Rinorea Niccolifera is one of them.

With this recent discovery, what if this newly discovered plant’s peculiar ability be honed
and harnessed to act as an agent in phytomining, this could provide an easier option. Let’s say for
an example, Nickel is one of the metals that can be sucked up and stored by a hyperaccumulator.
For humans, the current the process of obtaining nickel from soil is a highly complicated one. It
entails transporting all of the soil in question to a special facility to draw out the high-prized element
and then trucking the soil all the way back once the extraction is over with. The inherent value of
nickel (which we use in batteries, stainless steel, and, oh yeah, nickels) makes this laborious process
somehow worth the effort. Furthermore, given that Rinorea Niccolifera has the ability to absorb
metal such as nickel, it could also possibly absorb other metals besides nickel.

This is the main focus of the researchers, to determine the effectiveness of Rinorea
Niccolifera as an agent for phytomining. Specifically this study aims to;to find an alternative
way in acquisitioning mineral resources; to assess the effectiveness of Rinorea Niccolifera in
terms of measuring the amount of mineral accumulated in ppm and of how long it can accumulate
certain minerals; to analyze the relationship between the age and mineral content of Rinorea
Niccolifera; to understand the natural levels of Rinorea Niccolifera can accumuluate; to analyze
the effect of fertilizers on biomass increase and mineral content of Rinorea Niccolifera; and to
compare this method to other existing methods of gathering mineral resources. If Rinorea
Niccolifera is not capable of acting as an agent for Phytomining, then it is not effective.

Nevertheless, this study has a number of beneficiaries; the Environment, determining an

alternative way of gathering mineral resources is of great help in lessening the destruction
induced by mining and possibly regain the land fields and mountains that was once destroyed
due to mining Pioneering experiments in this field might lead to a `green' alternative to existing,
environmentally destructive, opencast mining practices. Botanists, this study will be used as an
additional information about discovering plants having a hyperaccumulating properties.
Geologists, Phytomining for a range of metals could perhaps contribute to additional potential of
the exploitation of ore bodies that it is uneconomic to mine by conventional methods. Soil
Scientists, this study can be used as an additional information about the discoveries of methods
in mending barren lands. Future Researchers, this study can be used as a related literature for
future researches.

Even if phytomining doesn’t become the new standby for mineral acquisition, the process
could still be used for the cleansing of ecosystems that have been contaminated with toxic metals.
Planting hyperaccumulators could be a simpler way of drawing metals out of soil and making an
area more suitable for plants that don’t necessarily want to suck up poison every day.
 Methodology

Research Materials. For the research study, the needed materials will be Forty(40) plants
of Rinorea Niccolifera, beakers, test tubes, 550 g/𝐦𝟐 of nickel(Ni), 200g/𝒎𝟐 of copper(Cu),
200g/𝒎𝟐 of zinc(Zn) and 100g/𝒎𝟐 manganese(Mn).

Research Design. The plants will be regularly space for observations which, in this case, is
made on a square grid of 10 cm spacing of each plant. The plants will be treated with different
types of metals as fertilizers:(1)100 g/𝐦𝟐 of nickel(Ni); (2)10g/𝒎𝟐 of copper(Cu); (3)10g/𝒎𝟐 of
zinc(Zn); (4)10g/ 𝒎𝟐 each of copper(Cu) and zinc(Zn); (5)10g/ 𝒎𝟐 each of copper(Cu), zinc(Zn)
and manganese(Mn); (6)10g/𝒎𝟐 each of nickel(Ni), copper(Cu), manganese(Mn), zinc(Zn).
There will be five set-up replicates of each treatment including five controls.

Research Environment. The study will be conducted in a well-lit garden, separated from
external factors that could possibly affect the experiment.

Setting the environment. The Forty plants of Rinorea Niccolifera will be regularly space at a
10x10 square grid at a safe environment far from the destruction and disturbance of people and
animals with enough sunlight and air. There will be five set-ups on each treatment that will be
observed in the plant. The environment will be treated with utmost hygiene and sanitary.

Putting of the Fertilizer. The fertilizer such as the nickel, copper, zinc, and magnesium will
be regularly put on a daily basis. The plants will be treated with different types of metals as
fertilizers:(1)100 g/m2 of nickel(Ni); (2)10g/𝑚2 of copper(Cu); (3)10g/𝑚2 of zinc(Zn); (4)10g/
𝑚2 each of copper(Cu) and zinc(Zn); (5)10g/ 𝑚2 each of copper(Cu), zinc(Zn) and
manganese(Mn); (6)10g/𝑚2 each of nickel(Ni), copper(Cu), manganese(Mn), zinc(Zn).

Studying the Plants appearance and metal concentration. After the 60 days period, the plants
will be harvested and collected to be put on a test. Specimens of the subject will be placed at test
tubes and therefore will be studied for its metal concentration.

Observation of the metal concentration present. The metal concentration present in the plant
will be recorded and analyzed to determine whether Rinorea Niccolifera is viable to act as an
agent for phytomining.