Scientists are investigating whether it is possible to talk to plants through light-based messages, giving them advance warning of impending danger and activating defense mechanisms to reduce damage.Working in a tobacco factory benthamiana tobaccoThey were able to use light as a stimulus to activate a plant’s immune response, an achievement that could revolutionize our relationship with plants.
“If we could alert plants to an impending disease outbreak or pest attack, they could activate their natural defense mechanisms to prevent widespread damage,” co-author Dr. Alex Jones said in the paper. . statement.
“It can also tell plants that extreme weather events like heatwaves or droughts are coming, allowing them to adjust their growth patterns or conserve water. It enables sustainable farming practices and potentially reduces the need for chemicals.”
In this study, they used a new technology called highlighter to activate the expression of target genes in plants. This tool was developed by Bo Larsen. He originally created this tool for prokaryotes (simple organisms without nuclei or other organelles in their cells), but later developed it for use in plants.
The use of light to manipulate biomolecular processes, such as gene activation, falls under the scientific field known as optogenetics. This is a convenient methodology because it can activate or deactivate processes of interest and is non-invasive, non-toxic, and inexpensive.
Photoreceptors were an important and sensitive part of the highlighter methodology. They were designed to control targeted processes such that they were switched on when activated by light stimulation, but because plants have so many photoreceptors, this is not possible. It wasn’t easy to do. After all, light is how they regulate their growth, development, and even eating.
Having successfully tailored Highlighter for use in tobacco plants, the team was able to demonstrate that it can affect plant immunity and pigment production. Research continues, but the findings already open many doors to what is possible with this alternative approach to interacting with plants.
“Highlighter is an important step forward in the development of optogenetic tools in plants, and its high-resolution gene regulation has the potential to be applied to study a wide range of fundamental plant biology questions,” Dr. Jones added. Ta.
“A plant growth toolbox with diverse optical properties presents exciting opportunities for crop improvement. For example, in the future we may be able to use one light condition to trigger an immune response, then another. We will be able to use light conditions to precisely measure the timing of certain traits, such as flowering and ripening.”
And conversations don’t always have to be one-sided. Did you know that plants scream? we can’t hear it.
This study PLOS Biology.
[H/T: Irish Examiner]