Northwestern University researchers are actively overturning the conventional view of iron oxides as mere phosphorus "sinks." A critical nutrient for life, most phosphorus in the soil is organic ...

Researchers found that iron oxides in soil catalyze reactions that produce phosphorus, an essential nutrient for plants, are most often supplied through fertilizers for agriculture.

Most phosphorus in the environment is in an organic form that plants cannot directly use, and traditional understanding suggested only enzymes could convert it into the bioavailable inorganic form.

Plants and microbes are known to secrete enzymes to transform organic phosphorus into bioavailable inorganic phosphorus. Now, researchers report iron oxides can drive the same conversion at ...