Stubby roots, brittle branches, poor fertility — these are some of the symptoms which can occur in the case of boron deficiency in plants. Thanks to transport proteins called Nodulin26-like-intrinsic-proteins (NIPs), modern seed plants can efficiently take up and distribute this essential micronutrient. However, this ability was not always inherent to plants. Researchers have now uncovered that the enigmatic functional origin of NIPs lies within genetically encoded arsenic detoxification units of bacteria.
