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[compost_tea] chelate & cell, + & - vrs - & -



Got to thinking about this.  Shouldn't it be easy for anions (like iron) to 
enter a negatively charged cell because the positive and negative charges 
attract each other?

It seems that two negatively charged particles would push each other away, 
making it hard for a chelated molecule carrying a slight negative charge to 
enter a negatively charged cell?

Paulette

-----Original Message-----
From:	soilfoodweb@aol.com [SMTP:soilfoodweb@aol.com]
Sent:	Saturday, May 24, 2003 12:46 PM
To:	compost_tea@yahoogroups.com
Subject:	Re: [compost_tea] chelate question for the chemists out there

I like the "chemical" description of chelation.  Sorry, being sarcastic.

"the chelation process removes the positive charge from metals [such as 
iron], allowing the neutral or slightly negatively
charged chelated molecule to slide through the pores on the leaf [I assume 
they mean the stomata] and root surface more rapidly."

Any biological cell has a net negative charge.  So a positively charged   
cation has trouble getting through the leaf surface, either through stomate 
(usually easier to get through, simple movement of materials can result in 
movement through), or through individual cells.

In order to speed uptake, cations need to be neutralized, and the typical 
biological way to do this is to attach the cation to a protein.  In this 
normal situation, it takes active, living biology to perform the chelation 
process.

Chelation can be done by addition of chelating agents, but those chelating 
agents are normally NOT present in soil.  EDTA for example is not found in 
soil to speak of, or at least I know of no evidence that it is.  Show me 
the data if I have missed something though.

So, chelation isn't something that just happens.  It requires biological 
energy to make the molecules that neutralize the positive charge on 
cations.

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
www.soilfoodweb.com


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