An enzyme that can help release phosphorus from its organic forms has been identified in a study from the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food, published in leading science journal PNAS.
An enzyme that can help release phosphorus from its organic forms has been identified in a study from the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food, published in leading science journal PNAS.
The enzyme has the potential to help reduce the consumption of phosphate chemical fertilisers which global food production systems rely on, but are produced by the mining of non-renewable and increasingly expensive inorganic sources of rock phosphate.
All organisms on Earth, plants and animals, require phosphorus for healthy growth and development, but the continued use of the limited stocks of non-renewable phosphorus chemical fertilisers in agriculture threatens crop yields and the sustainability of our global food production systems. Agriculture is the biggest consumer of non-renewable phosphorus, so its limited supply has important implications for global food security, biodiversity and climate regulation.
The most simple form of phosphorus in use in fertilisers is non-renewable inorganic phosphate, as unfortunately the availability of organic phosphate nutrients in the environment is often low enough to limit natural plant and algae growth.
Read more at University of Sheffield
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