"What do you call a long-distance signaling
system that involves coded information?
Japanese researchers identified a coded string of information that acts as a signal, but it wasn’t intercepted email: it was a molecule inside a plant, the humble lab plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Phys.org says that scientists at Nagoya University identified a polypeptide that tells roots when the top of the plant is starved for nitrogen, essentially telling the roots to send some up pronto.
The polypeptide is not a random string of amino acids. It’s an ordered sequence that must be recognized by the plant to generate a purposeful response. The article shows that this is a two-way communication pathway, something like email with a molecular message:
Rounding out the comparison to an email system, the article shows that this is no simple thing:
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| Arabidopsis Thaliana |
Japanese researchers identified a coded string of information that acts as a signal, but it wasn’t intercepted email: it was a molecule inside a plant, the humble lab plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Phys.org says that scientists at Nagoya University identified a polypeptide that tells roots when the top of the plant is starved for nitrogen, essentially telling the roots to send some up pronto.
The polypeptide is not a random string of amino acids. It’s an ordered sequence that must be recognized by the plant to generate a purposeful response. The article shows that this is a two-way communication pathway, something like email with a molecular message:
Although not able to actively forage for their food, plants can nevertheless overcome problems relating to nutrient scarcity or varied distribution using a long-distance signaling mechanism. This helps determine their competitive success and productivity. For instance, nitrogen (usually in the form of nitrate) is essential for plant growth, but is often only present as patches in the soil. Nitrogen-starved roots express a mobile plant hormone (CEP) that travels upward to the shoot and eventually triggers compensatory nitrogen uptake by roots in more nitrogen-rich areas. This CEP signal is received by a receptor protein in the leaves, but the molecules involved in the shoot-to-root response signal were unknown.
That’s just the first signal, from root to shoot. When the leaves in the shoot receive the signal, they switch on genes that are only activated in the shoot. To complete the communication circuit, the message needs to get back down to the root. Expecting to find one, they intercepted the message.Rounding out the comparison to an email system, the article shows that this is no simple thing:
Such a sophisticated signaling system ensures that plants maximize the efficiency at which they obtain nutrients, and could be exploited to improve fertilizer application and enhance plant productivity.
Well, what do you know! Plants have an intranet, and they communicate with email." CEH
DESIGN=DESIGNER
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind,
and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind:
and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:12
