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posted by janrinok on Thursday July 30 2015, @03:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the talk-to-me-baby dept.

University of Adelaide research has shown for the first time that, despite not having a nervous system, plants use signals normally associated with animals when they encounter stress.

Published today in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology reported how plants respond to their environment with a similar combination of chemical and electrical responses to animals, but through machinery that is specific to plants.

"We've known for a long-time that the animal neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is produced by plants under stress, for example when they encounter drought, salinity, viruses, acidic soils or extreme temperatures," says senior author Associate Professor Matthew Gilliham, ARC Future Fellow in the University's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.

"But it was not known whether GABA was a signal in plants. We've discovered that plants bind GABA in a similar way to animals, resulting in electrical signals that ultimately regulate plant growth when a plant is exposed to a stressful environment."

By identifying how plants respond to GABA the researchers are optimistic that they have opened up many new possibilities for modifying how plants respond to stress.

"The major stresses agricultural crops face like pathogens and poor environmental conditions account for most yield losses around the planet - and consequently food shortages," says co-lead author Professor Stephen Tyerman.

"By identifying how plants use GABA as a stress signal we have a new tool to help in the global effort to breed more stress resilient crops to fight food insecurity."


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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday July 30 2015, @07:30PM

    by Freeman (732) on Thursday July 30 2015, @07:30PM (#215990) Journal

    I remember doing experiments in grade school using classical music vs rock music and the effects each had on the plants.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
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  • (Score: 2) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday July 30 2015, @10:41PM

    by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Thursday July 30 2015, @10:41PM (#216055) Journal

    What were the results?

    • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday July 30 2015, @11:13PM

      by Gaaark (41) on Thursday July 30 2015, @11:13PM (#216066) Journal

      He smoked them... Reggae music is da bomb!

      Yo!

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday August 03 2015, @03:12PM

      by Freeman (732) on Monday August 03 2015, @03:12PM (#217418) Journal

      The plants responded positively to the Classical Music and negatively to the Rock Music. Anything more than that and I really don't remember.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"