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—and we aren't the only ones that need it.
Iron is a crucial mineral that plants absorb from soil to support various cellular processes. However, microbes that live on and around plants also require iron. Plants must therefore maintain a delicate balance between using iron to defend themselves against microbial invasions and retaining it to stay healthy. Researchers from the Salk Institute have discovered a protein called SRF3 that plays a key role in restoring this iron balance after microbial attack and regulating the plant's immune response.
The study, published in Science Advances, provides valuable insights into plant resilience that could help develop more nutritious and resilient crops for the growing global population.
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