Serpentine soils, which contain relatively high concentrations of nickel and some other metals, are the preferred substrate
for some plants, especially those that accumulate Ni in their tissues. In temperate regions more Ni-hyperaccumulator plants
are found in
Alyssum than in any other genus. In this study, serpentine soils of two areas (Marivan and Dizaj) in the west/northwest of Iran and
also perennial
Alyssum plants growing on these soils were analyzed for Ni and some other metals. The highest concentrations of total metals in the
soils of these areas for Ni, Cr, Co and Mn were 1,350, 265, 94 and 1,150 μg g
−1, respectively, while concentrations of Fe, Mg and Ca reached 3.55%, 16.8% and 0.585% respectively. The concentration of exchangeable
Ni in these soils is up to 4.5 μg g
−1. In this study two
Alyssum species,
A. inflatum and
A. longistylum, have been collected from Marivan and Dizaj, respectively. Analysis of leaf dry matter shows that they can contain up to
3,700 and 8,100 μg Ni g
−1, respectively. This is the first time that such high Ni concentrations have been found in these species. The concentrations
of other metals determined in these species were in the normal range for serpentine plants, except for Ca, which was higher,
up to 5.3% and 3.5%, respectively
Keywords
Alyssum
inflatum
-
Alyssum longistylum
- Heavy metals - Iran - Nickel hyperaccumulator - Serpentine soils