- Highlights
- Salk scientists find a receptor called SRF3 that manages cellular iron levels while simultaneously regulating the plant’s immune response
- Discovery reveals previously unknown mechanism that allows plants both to absorb this essential nutrient and defend against microbes, informing future crop resilience efforts
- Study also provides insights into cellular mechanisms that could be relevant in mammalian cells and key signaling proteins in cancer and beyond
LA JOLLA—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.
Microbes that live on and around plants also need iron. Plants are then forced to strike a delicate balance between using iron…
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