Thursday, October 15, 2026
Science

Fighting off microbial invasions drains plants' iron stores, but one protein helps restore balance

Energy production in our cells, oxygen traveling in our blood and immune cells fighting infection all depend on iron, an essential mineral that enters the food chain when plants absorb it from soil. But iron is often scarce—likely increasingly so as global weather and temperatures continue to change...

Fighting off microbial invasions drains plants' iron stores, but one protein helps restore balance
Image: Phys.org
Energy production in our cells, oxygen traveling in our blood and immune cells fighting infection all depend on iron, an essential mineral that enters the food chain when plants absorb it from soil. But iron is often scarce—likely increasingly so as global weather and temperatures continue to change—and we aren't the only ones that need it.

Originally published at Phys.org

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