Planta (2018) 247:277–285

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-017-2826-1

 

Author:

Maximilian Weigend1 · Adeel Mustafa1 · Hans‑Jürgen Ensikat1

 

Abstract:

Main conclusion Calcium phosphate was unknown as a plant biomineral until recently reported in Neotropical Loasaceae. Here, we demonstrate its widespread occurrence in the trichomes of several plant families, including Brassicaceae.

Calcium phosphate is the primary biomineral in, e.g., the bones and teeth of higher animals; in plants, it was only recently discovered in the stinging hairs and scabrid–glochidiate trichomes of South American Loasaceae (Ensikat et al. in Sci Rep UK

6:26073, 2016), where it appears to be deposited highly specifically, often replacing the common plant biomineral silica. We initiated a broader survey in a range of different plant orders to investigate a possibly wider distribution of calcium phosphate

biomineralization in plants. Scanning electron microscopy with EDX element analysis and mapping was used for the detection of the biominerals: calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and silica in the trichomes of several common plant species

of different orders. Results were authenticated with Raman spectroscopy. Calcium phosphate was found in the trichomes of several species in the orders Malpighiales, Rosales, Boraginales, and Brassicales. It occurred in trichome tips, replacing

the more common silica, or together with silica and calcium carbonate at specific locations in the trichome cell walls. Most surprisingly, it was found in the trichomes of Arabidopsis thaliana, one of the most studied plant species—where it had

been overlooked so far. The wide distribution of calcium phosphate as plant biomineral here demonstrated and the striking mineralization patterns with three different biominerals in the walls of single-celled trichomes underscore an unexpected

complexity in plant biomineralization.

 

指導教授:徐堯煇、王敏盈 教授

報告日期:2020.01.03

組員:碩二 黃怡雯 碩一 陳宥延