Uses Bacterial Nickel Transporters and Enhanced Histidine Biosynthesis to Boost Metal Uptake in Plants
These transgenic plants enable sustainable nickel (Ni) phytomining by using bacterial Ni transporters and enhanced histidine biosynthesis to boost metal uptake. Nickel (Ni) is a critical element for batteries, stainless steel, and other industries. Demand for Ni is rapidly increasing due to its essential role in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, renewable energy storage, and high-performance alloys. The global nickel market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.3% until 2033, when it is projected to reach USD 86.35 billion. However, traditional mining methods are expensive, costing roughly $20,000 per ton, and environmentally harmful, causing habitat destruction and emitting high levels of carbon.
Capturing Ni through phytomining by growing plants in Ni-rich soil offers a greener alternative to conventional mining methods. However, existing phytomining methods accumulate only small amounts of Ni because they lack dedicated uptake pathways and are limited by competition from other metals. Therefore, there is an evident need for a sustainable Ni phytomining method employing dedicated uptake pathways to boost Ni accumulation.
Researchers at the University of Florida developed a genetic approach, resulting in transgenic plants that enable sustainable Ni phytomining by using bacterial Ni transporters and enhanced histidine biosynthesis. This phytomining strategy uses plants grown in Ni-rich soils to extract and recycle valuable metals while restoring degraded land. The outcome is a plant capable of significantly greater Ni absorption and translocation than wild-type species, providing a low-cost, sustainable alternative to mining.
Application
A plant-based biotechnology platform to enable crops to absorb, move, and store nickel efficiently
Advantages
- Expresses bacterial Ni transporter, increasing root Ni uptake
- Delivers 7.3% higher leaf Ni content compared to control plants, achieving rapid accumulation within one week
- Reduces dependence on traditional mining, providing a low-cost Ni production method and cutting environmental and energy costs
Technology
This biotechnology platform uses a dual-gene system for sustainable nickel (Ni) phytomining via transgenic plants. It combines a bacterial Ni-specific transporter with a histidine biosynthesis gene to enhance both uptake and movement of Ni within the plant. When expressed in Populus root cells under a root-specific promoter, the transporter facilitates Ni entry into the plant, while the histidine pathway boosts Ni mobility from root to shoot. In hydroponic tests containing 100 µM Ni, transgenic plants showed a 7.3% increase in Ni accumulation compared to wild-type plants (p < 0.02). This combination enables efficient metal transport to aerial plant parts, paving the way for practical phytomining and environmentally sustainable metal recovery from soil.
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