Systematic Elemental Screening of Herbarium and Field Plants to Create a Comprehensive U.S. Plant Inventory for Metal Hyperaccumulators

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Program:
Exploratory Topics
Award:
$999,679
Location:
Tucson, Arizona
Status:
ACTIVE
Project Term:
09/20/2024 - 09/19/2026

Technology Description:

University of Arizona is conducting a large-scale herbarium x-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning project, with more than 100,000 scans to discover new metal-harvesting hyperaccumulating plants in the U.S. Using a portable XRF spectrometer, this project will improve the accuracy of elemental analysis and provide critical insight into the potential of native U.S. flora for phytomining. The results will not only identify new hyperaccumulators, but also optimize metal uptake under native geographic conditions, investigate soil-microbe interactions beneficial to phytomining, and develop the first open-access database of metal hyperaccumulator plants.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Philseok Kim
Project Contact:
Dr. Alicja Babst-Kostecka
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
ababstkostecka@arizona.edu

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