Title: "Shade intolerance as a driver of the evolution of biochemical recognition”
Article link: http://journals.ohiolink.edu/ejc/pdf.cgi/Renne_Ian_J.pdf?issn=00220477&issue=v102i0001&article=86_eipdgvbr
Again, my apologies with being tardy with this announcement.
Zach you did a great job presenting!
ReplyDeleteIt was very informative and I learned some interesting things about material I am unfamiliar with.
Great job Zach. You're area of study is both unique and fascinating. these different possible connections and interactions among plants take the concept of "competition" to an intriguing level that most people don't realize exists in nature
ReplyDeleteDidn't see a question posted here yet, so one that I was thinking about was...
ReplyDeletehow can man-made factors (I.e. Pollutants, increased CO2 levels, cultivation) affect the way plants perceive their environments? Do you think we could develop new compounds to use to our benefit to actually increase seed germination (and thus, more organic growth)?
Great job, Zach
Zach, your presentation style was engaging and passionate. Excellent job!
ReplyDeleteTo answer the question Ray posed, I think pollutants would perhaps cause the plants not to germinate. As, Zach talked about, plants send biochemical signals to "scope out the environment" to see if it's worth germinating. I would imagine pollutants would have negative feed back onto these biochemical signals.
Although not necessary for Zach's study, I'd be interested in knowing what exactly these biochemicals are that the plants are emitting, and the mechanism behind their recognition of their environment. Perhaps in addition to fertilizer and water, we can increase plant yield by adding these chemicals, as well.
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ReplyDeleteTo give a speculative answer to Susan's question i think examples of such biochemical signals would be those from plant photoreceptors such as phytochrome, cryptochromes, phototropins, and UVR8.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about ecology but Zach's presentation was interesting, especially the new hypothesis about chemical signaling.
ReplyDeleteWith the CO2 and pollutants in the soil, it would only make sense that it would negatively affect the chemical signaling in the seeds for germination. This could prematurely cause the seed germinate in unfavorable conditions, when conditions are favorable there might not be any seeds to germination in that area.
I, like Dylan, don't know much about ecology either. However, when I was reading some papers on this topic I found that some chemicals and pollutants such as smoke actually increase seed germination. I found this to be quite interesting because I would have thought that it would cause negative effects in the seed germination like Dylan mentioned.
DeleteI think this concept of chemical communication is extremely interesting. It makes sense that plants would have a protective mechanism to give them a developmental advantage. Zach did a great job communicating the information to those of us who are far removed from being botanists
ReplyDeletePollution could cause seeds to identify unfavorable conditions leading to delayed germination. Although this seems unlikely since man-made pollution would usually cause rapid changes in the environment rendering the plant unable to undergo evolutionary changes which would allow the seeds to recognize chemical signals and adapt. However if those chemical signals are similar enough to naturally occurring ones, maybe they could artificially affect seed germination. Like Ray and Susan already mentioned, maybe these conditions could be exploited and mimicked for agricultural benefits.
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing Zach’s presentation, I remembered an article I read years ago during Biology 2 in my undergrad. We talked about how some plants developed certain traits that would promote their reproduction. Many plants developed bright colored fruit that contained their seeds. This fruit would attract many different animals to the plant to eat the fruit. After digesting the fruit, they would defecate and the seeds that were within the fruit would be still intact and transported to an environment that was hopefully be suited to their needs.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of hot peppers, it is the exact opposite. They developed a mechanism that protected themselves from mammals and only allowed them to be consumed by birds. Capsaicin, is a chemical agent found in peppers that can illicit pain within the oral cavity and stomach upon consumption by mammals. This is because they have receptors for this chemical agent. In birds, they do not have this receptor. Thus, allowing them to consume the peppers and increase their range of propagation within a certain area because the birds cannot chew or damage the seeds like mammals. If the seed is not damaged, it can become fertile and reproduce. This is known as the directed deterrence theory.
Awesome job Zach! It's obvious you are very passionate about and enjoy you're research. I would never thought plants wage war on each other in this fashion or that these interactions occur depending on how different plants have interacted over time. This concept highlight that plants don't have to be in direct contact to have significant influence on who survives and who does not.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever feel like plants have brains? They obviously dont, but nevertheless plants have some highly evolved mechanisms for reproduction and survival. I mean, come on, they communicate with each other. Just from Zach presentation we can see that plants sense their environment, "decide" when to germinate, communicate with each other, and have mechanisms for defense. During my research I came across a lot of examples of cunning deception by plants. I think I'll direct a science fiction movie where plants take over the world. One giant forest everywhere. Zach, I'll metion you in the credits as motivation for the idea of the movie. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI felt Zach did a fantastic job presenting. I felt he was very passionate about his work and see a bright future. I hope one we can look at the biochemical pathways that maybe involved in germination. Furthermore, as a microbiologist, I am curios to see the rhizoshpere's influence on germination?
ReplyDelete