Climate change is making plants more vulnerable to disease. New research could help them fight back
A fuller account of the Nature paper of a previous post is here:
ScienceDaily
To keep food on the table in a warming world, researchers are bolstering plant immunity against the heat.
- Source:
- Duke University
- Summary:
- When heat waves hit, they don't just take a toll on people -- plants suffer too. That's because when temperatures rise, certain plant defenses don't work as well, leaving them more susceptible to attacks from pathogens and pests. Scientists say they have identified a specific protein in plant cells that explains why immunity falters as the mercury rises. They've also figured out a way to bolster plant defenses against the heat.
When heat waves hit, they don't just take a toll on people -- the plants we depend on for food suffer too. That's because when temperatures get too high, certain plant defenses don't work as well, leaving them more susceptible to attacks from pathogens and insect pests.
Now, scientists say they have identified a specific protein in plant cells that explains why immunity falters as the mercury rises. They've also figured out a way to reverse the loss and bolster plant defenses against the heat.
The findings, appearing June 29 in the journal Nature, were found in a spindly plant with white flowers called Arabidopsis thaliana that is the "lab rat" of plant research. If the same results hold up in crops too, it would be welcome news for food security in a warming world, said Duke University biologist and corresponding author Sheng-Yang He.
Scientists have known for decades that above-normal temperatures suppress a plant's ability to make a defense hormone called salicylic acid, which fires up the plant's immune system and stops invaders before they cause too much damage. But the molecular basis of this immunity meltdown wasn't well understood.
Read on: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220629121138.htm