Emerging investigator series: entrapment of uranium-phosphorus nanocrystals inside root cells of Tamarix plants from a mine waste site.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the mechanisms of uranium (U) uptake by Tamarix (salt cedars) growing along the Rio Paguate, which flows throughout the Jackpile mine near Pueblo de Laguna, New Mexico. Tamarix were selected for this study due to the detection of U in the roots and shoots of field collected plants (0.6-58.9 mg kg-1), presenting an average bioconcentration factor greater than 1. Synchrotron-based micro X-ray fluorescence analyses of plant roots collected from the field indicate that the accumulation of U occurs in the cortex of the root. The mechanisms for U accumulation in the roots of Tamarix were further investigated in controlled-laboratory experiments where living roots of field plants were macerated for 24 h or 2 weeks in a solution containing 100 μM U. The U concentration in the solut

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Freire L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8479813 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature