Iron is a critical micronutrient for the survival of plants and humans, yet too much iron can also be toxic. An interdisciplinary research team from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has discovered that the protein PATELLIN2 is not only involved in regulating iron levels in plants. PATELLIN2 is one of a group of proteins that are also involved in the transport of vitamin E in humans. The researchers are now presenting the results, which are also important for supplying people with iron via plant foods, in the journal Plant Physiology.
Iron is an essential micronutrient for humans. Iron and zinc deficiencies in a person’s diet cause severe damage to health, above all in unborn and young children. To secure world food supplies and fight malnutrition, particularly in the poorest countries, it is therefore necessary to ensure the supply of iron primarily from plant sources and…
