What can you do when you feel hungry? You could go to the kitchen and prepare a sandwich, or you could buy yourself a snack. But what if you are fixed to the ground? Plants are champions at reaching food that is far away from them while they are standing still. Below a plant, roots branch out into the soil in many directions, looking for the nutrients plants need for survival and growth. Iron is a very important nutrient for plants because it is essential for growth and development, and it also helps plants to face stresses in the environment. Even if iron availability in soil is very low, plants have developed two strategies for efficiently taking up iron and storing it. In this article, we will explore the importance of iron in plants’ lives, explaining how plants take up it and how balanced iron levels are important for plants’ (and our) survival.
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