Boron Nutrition in Crops and Boron Removal from Water
This community investigates the physiological role of boron in agricultural plants and the engineering methods required to remove excess boron from water sources.
The research focuses on two distinct but chemically linked areas. The first strand examines how boron levels affect crop growth, yield, and fruit quality in species such as sugar beet, canola, maize, and mung bean. It details the mechanisms of boron deficiency and toxicity, oxidative stress responses, and the interactions between boron and other nutrients like zinc, nitrogen, and calcium. The second strand addresses the removal of boric acid from water, specifically targeting seawater desalination and brine treatment. This work involves developing adsorbents, ion-exchange resins, and reverse osmosis membranes capable of selectively capturing boron to meet strict water quality standards.
Boron research accounts for 7.0% of all tracked boron literature, representing 4,902 papers within this group. The community publishes primarily in the Journal of Plant Nutrition, Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, and Plant and Soil.
Recent work continues to refine membrane technologies for boron removal from hypersaline brines and explores the transport and regulatory mechanisms of boron within plant tissues.