ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
This article is part of the Research TopicMicrobial Strategies for Phytoremediation EnhancementView all 4 articles
Rhizosphere microbiome assembly drives metal sequestration in Leucaena leucocephala during tailing phytoremediation
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sunyani Technical University, Sunyani, Ghana
- 2Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology College of Science, Kumasi, Ghana
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Introduction: Ghana's water and soil resources face severe challenges due to heavy metal contamination from gold mining operations. Although Leucaena leucocephala exhibits potential for phytoremediation, little is known about the contribution of its rhizosphere microbiomes to metal uptake and tolerance in multiple-metal contaminated tailings in field conditions. Methods: We investigated the rhizosphere bacterial community dynamics in L. leucocephala across three soil treatments (garden soil, 1:1 soil-tailings mixture, and pure tailings) using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Briefly, transplanted seedlings of L. leucocephala were harvested at three-month intervals for three consecutive harvests to assess metal accumulation and changes in the microbiome. Results and Discussion: Leucaena leucocephala demonstrated notable tolerance to elevated metal concentrations (>10,000 mg/kg Fe and Mn) under acidic conditions (pH 4.57-5.97). Maximum metal uptake occurred at final harvest, with Fe reaching 14,605±1.40 mg/kg in shoots and Mn reaching 12,279±1.13 mg/kg in roots. The elevated concentrations of metals reduced overall bacterial diversity, except for selected metal-tolerant Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Acidobacteria, which dominated bacterial communities across all treatments. The initial proliferation of Nocardioides and Streptomyces corroborated nutrient and metal-induced stress, while key genera such as Arthrobacter, Gaiella, Skermanella, and Chelatococcus showed strong positive associations with metal accumulation and maintained essential ecological functions. Conclusion: Rhizosphere bacterial communities undergo stress-specific assembly processes, with specific taxa facilitating L. leucocephala's exceptional phytoremediation capacity. These findings provide insights into microbiome-enhanced strategies for mine site rehabilitation.
Keywords: Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit, metal sequestration, Mine tailing, Phytoremediation, Rhizosphere microbiome
Received: 18 Nov 2025; Accepted: 29 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Doku, Belford and Sylverken. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Emmanuel Tetteh Doku
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