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X-Ray Fluorescence Ionomics of Herbarium Collections
Antony van der Ent1,2, Guillaume Echevarria1,2, A Joseph Pollard3
1Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
Scientific Reports
|March 22, 2019
Summary
Discovering trace element hyperaccumulator plants is now faster and non-destructive using Herbarium XRF Ionomics. This new method analyzes herbarium specimens, enabling large-scale datasets and revealing phylogenetic patterns.
Area of Science:
- Botany
- Geochemistry
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Global herbaria house invaluable plant kingdom data.
- Traditional trace element analysis of plant specimens is destructive and time-consuming, limiting large-scale studies.
- Non-destructive analytical techniques are needed for efficient elemental analysis of herbarium samples.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel, non-destructive method for elemental analysis of herbarium specimens.
- To demonstrate the application of this method in discovering new hyperaccumulator plants.
- To investigate phylogenetic patterns of trace element hyperaccumulation.
Main Methods:
- Development and application of "Herbarium XRF Ionomics", a method utilizing handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy.
- Analysis of plant specimens from major tropical herbaria.
- Case studies to validate the method and its findings.
Main Results:
- Successful application of Herbarium XRF Ionomics in two major tropical herbaria.
- Discovery of new trace element hyperaccumulator plants.
- Valuable insights into the phylogenetic distribution of hyperaccumulation traits.
Conclusions:
- Herbarium XRF Ionomics offers a significant advancement for plant elemental research.
- This method enhances the value of herbarium specimens for scientific discovery and funding.
- The technique facilitates large-scale datasets for understanding plant-environment interactions.
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