Unraveling iron oxides as abiotic catalysts of organic phosphorus recycling in soil and sediment matrices.

ABSTRACT: In biogeochemical phosphorus cycling, iron oxide minerals are acknowledged as strong adsorbents of inorganic and organic phosphorus. Dephosphorylation of organic phosphorus is attributed only to biological processes, but iron oxides could also catalyze this reaction. Evidence of this abiotic catalysis has relied on monitoring products in solution, thereby ignoring iron oxides as both catalysts and adsorbents. Here we apply high-resolution mass spectrometry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy to characterize dissolved and particulate phosphorus species, respectively. In soil and sediment samples reacted with ribonucleotides, we uncover the abiotic production of particulate inorganic phosphate associated specifically with iron oxides. Reactions of various organic phosphorus compounds with the

SUBMITTER: Basinski JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11258345 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature