They seem inert and apathetic. But they are more sensitive and reactive than we can imagine! And touchy too! We are talking about plants, which - if touched - tend to grow more and develop all their defense systems more, to protect themselves from the attack of parasites, infections and fungi.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
They seem inert and apathetic. But they are more sensitive and reactive than we can imagine! And touchy too! We are talking about the plants, which - if touched - tend to grow more and to develop mostly all their defense systems, For protect yourself from attack by parasites, infections and fungi.
This was revealed by a US study by Rice University, which highlighted how it is jasmonato, a particular hormone present in plants, amplifies and accelerates their growth and the reaction against external attacks.
"When a plant is touched, the levels of jasmonate, a growth hormone present throughout the plant world, increase inside it - explained Wassim Chehab, biochemist who coordinated the study, also published in the journal Current Biology - We found that this hormone also raises the production of metabolites, substances harmful to the digestive system of herbivores and which make the plant less palatable for parasites ".
In fact, the scholars who have conducted the study had already guessed the particular reactivity of plants to the touch, but until now they have not been able to explain why. And the answer came precisely from the hormone.
"From previous studies, we understood that touch influences the growth rates of plants, but we did not know what triggered these changes - continued Wassim Chehab - We therefore used a widely studied plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, to verify the hypothesis that touch influenced growth thanks to the plant hormone jasmonate “.
And just this particular hormone plays a fundamental role in the development of plant defenses against insects and external attacks.
"Our experiments - said the experts - show that plants touched repeatedly maintain high levels of jasmonate and therefore have a greater tolerance to insects and fungi".
"Plants cannot move - concluded the co-author of the study, Janet Braam, professor and president of the department of biochemistry and cell biology - and therefore it is necessary for them to have a highly developed touch reaction system, which helps them to react to the environment. 'surrounding environment “.
If you want more resistant and larger plants then, you just have to caress them gently, just like we do with our animal friends!
Verdiana Amorosi
