Biologists have found a way to alter a plant’s defensive responses to promote quicker, longer growth.
is rather astounding. Cutting off a piece of a stem and placing it in a cup of water can result in a whole new veggie. But at the microbiological level, botanists have found that in response to these cuts, plants pick between two responses: regeneration and defense. A new study published inexplores whether flora could be nudged toward regeneration rather than defense to help boost quick growth.
Birnbaum found that the plants’ glutamate receptor-like proteins began to ramp up their defense mechanism, almost as if they were getting ready for battle, he says. These molecules, which are analogous to the glutamate receptors found in the human brain, sense amino acids for metabolism and other purposes. They also power a plant’s defense system when it’s wounded.
To test this, the authors activated the receptors through two different processes. One method involved using a genetically manipulated receptor that José Feijó at the University of Maryland has been working on. The researchers compared the injury response of ordinary plants to samples that had four of their glutamate receptor-like protein genes modified to suppress their reaction. As a result, the “quadruple mutant” plant demonstrated an increase in regeneration.
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