The Phylogenetic Association Between Salt Tolerance and Heavy Metal Hyperaccumulation in Angiosperms

Salt tolerance and heavy metal hyperaccumulation are two rare plant abilities that are heavily studied for their potential to contribute to agricultural sustainability and phytoremediation in response to anthropogenic environmental change. Several observations suggest that it is worth investigating the link between the abilities to tolerate high levels of soil salinity or accumulate more of a particular heavy metal from the soil than most plants. Firstly, several angiosperm families are known to contain both salt tolerant plants (halophytes) and heavy metal hyperaccumulators. Secondly, some halophytes can also accumulate heavy metals. Thirdly, although salinity tolerance and heavy metal hyperaccumulation typically require many physiological or anatomical changes, both have apparently evolved many times in angiosperms and among closely related species. We test for a significant relationship between halophytes and hyperaccumulators in angiosperms using taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses. We test whether there are more angiosperm families with both halophytes and hyperaccumulators than expected by chance, and whether there are more species identified as both halophyte and hyperaccumulator than if the abilities were unconnected. We also test whether halophytes and hyperaccumulators are phylogenetically clustered among species in seven angiosperm families. We find a significant association between halophytes and hyperaccumulators among angiosperm families and that there are significantly more species identified as both halophytes and hyperaccumulators than expected. Halophytes and hyperaccumulators each show low phylogenetic clustering, suggesting these abilities can vary among closely related species. In Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae, halophytes and hyperaccumulators are more closely related than if the two traits evolved independently.