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An amazing reaction happens when a plant gets hurt
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The short clip above shows what happens to an injured plant when a nibbling insect attacks the leaves of a plant: the entire plant is alerted to begin anticipatory defense responses.Working in the model plant Arabidopsis, researchers recently showed that a systemic signal begins with the release of glutamate, which is perceived by glutamate receptor–like ion channels upon injury to a leaf. The ion channels then set off a cascade of changes in calcium ion concentration that propagate through the phloem vasculature and through intercellular channels called plasmodesmata. This glutamate-based long-distance signaling is rapid; within minutes, an undamaged leaf can respond to the fate of a distant leaf. If plants react to injury more similarly to ...
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1079 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
What are the most poisonous plants?
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Plants are essential for any ecosystem, being both a food source and habitat for living things. Although plants are stationary, many are dangerous to touch or eat, making you sick or cause a bad reaction. Some of the most poisonous plants are described below: Abrus Precarious or Rosary Pea (Left) This plant has beans that contain a deadly poison. Ironically, their seeds are often used in jewelry and rosary making, but are not harmful when touched, only if chewed or scratched. The poison is known to stop protein synthesis, leading to organ failure. Ricinus Communis or the Castor Bean (Center) The castor bean plant comes from Africa and its seed is the source of castor oil used all over the world. However, the seeds contain a deadly poison called ...
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10534 |
bio_man |
7 years ago |
This carnivorous plant counts to avoid being tricked
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Unlike conventional plants, the Venus flytrap copes with poor soil by eating bugs! But the cost of insect hunting is high. Catching prey requires Dionaea muscipula to snap down quickly and then carry out the energy-intensive process of digestion. To balance the costs and benefits of eating meat, the plants have developed a counting system to identify real prey from false alarms, according to a new study. To understand how the flytrap distinguishes a potential food source from a false alarm like a raindrop, researchers observed the electrical and chemical response of the plant to touch stimulation. In order to mimic insect prey, the scientists stimulated the hairlike sensors located on the plant’s trap. Touching the sensors two times quick ...
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16800 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
This plant contains 27 times more chromosomes per cell than humans
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It's true, the adder's-tongue ferns ( Ophioglossum) pictured above has the highest chromosome count of any known living organism, with 1,262 chromosomes. In comparison, most species have far fewer chromosomes (i.e. humans have 46, 23 pairs). However, the number of chromosomes doesn't suggest that this species is more complex - after all, it's a plant! Some organisms, like this plants can self-fertilize, therefore they end with extra chromosomes. Over many generations, these chromosomes accumulate, hence the large number found in Ophioglossum. ...
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7084 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
This plant will solve all your termite problems
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The pitcher plant, much like the Venus flytrap, is a carnivorous plant that survives by digesting insects. It's sweet nectar entices insects to feed off it, though this may come at a cost as they risk falling into a deadly pool of acid at the bottom of the pitcher plant's bucket-shaped leaf.
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3049 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Did you know that bees and flowers communicate using electric fields?
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Researchers discover that bees and flowers communicate using electric fields. "It turns out flowers have a slight negative charge relative to the air around them. Bumblebees have a charge, too. The plant's electric field is changed by the proximity of that positively charged bee. And once the bee leaves, the field stays changed for 100 seconds or so. That's long enough for the altered field to serve as a warning for the next bee that buzzes by. She won't stop to investigate a flower that's already been visited." ...
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5146 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Nature's kiss
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Check out this beautiful flower. At first glance, it looks like a set of lips, but in actually, these are the flowers that are produced by Psychotria elata, a plant that grows in Central and South American tropical forests.
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4057 |
savio |
10 years ago |
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