New paper explores the diverse roles flavins and siderophores play in iron redox cycling

Flavins and siderophores are organic molecules exuded by plant roots, fungi and bacteria under iron-deficient conditions. In a new paper published in the journal Fundamental Research, a team of ERG researchers and colleagues from the China University of Geosciences (CUG) analyze the catalytic effects of two representative compounds, riboflavin (also known as vitamin B2) and desferrioxamine B, on the oxidation of aqueous ferrous Fe(II) by molecular oxygen (O₂). The study sheds new light on the reaction mechanisms responsible for the accelerated Fe(II) oxidation in the presence of the exudates and, hence, their participation in the redox cycling of iron at oxic-anoxic interfaces in the environment. The paper can be accessed at: LINK.