Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




FLORA AND FAUNA
Picture this - biosecurity seen from the inside
by Staff Writers
Nottingham, UK (SPX) Jan 20, 2015


The Jas9-VENUS biosensor responds to changes in jasmonic acid levels. Image courtesy The Centre for Plant Integrative Biology.

When plants come under attack internal alarm bells ring and their defence mechanisms swing into action - and it happens in the space of just a few minutes. Now, for the first time, plant scientists - including experts from The University of Nottingham - have imaged, in real time, what happens when plants beat off the bugs and respond to disease and damage.

The research, "A fluorescent hormone biosensor reveals the dynamics of jasmonate signalling in plants", was carried out by an interdisciplinary team from the UK, France and Switzerland and has been published in the leading academic journal Nature Communications.

Malcolm Bennett, Professor in Plant Science at The University of Nottingham and Director of the Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, said: "Understanding how plants respond to mechanical damage, such as insect attack, is important for developing crops which cope better under stress."

Their research focussed on the plant hormone jasmonic acid which is part of the plant's alarm system and defence mechanism. Jasmonic acid is released during insect attack and controls the response to damage. Disease can also trigger jasmonic acid - so it's a general defence compound.

Professor Bennett said: "We have created a special fluorescent protein - Jas9-VENUS - that is rapidly degraded after jasmonic acid is produced. This allowed us to monitor where jasmonic levels are increased when the fluorescent signal is lost."

Using a blade to damage a leaf the research team mimicked an insect feeding. With the fluorescent protein they were able to image how damage to a leaf quickly results in a pulse of jasmonic acid that reaches all the way down to the tip of the root, at a speed of more than a centimetre per minute. Once this hormone pulse reaches the root it triggers more jasmonic acid to be produced locally, amplifying the wounding signal and ensuring other parts of the plant are prepared for attack.

Professor Bennett said: "Jasmonic acid triggers the production of defence compounds like protease inhibitors to stop the insect being able to digest the plant proteins - the plant becomes indigestible and the insect stops eating it."

Laurent Laplaze, a group leader at IRD (Institut de recherche pour le developpement) in Montpellier, described the new biosensor used to pinpoint what happens when plants are damaged.

He said: "The Jas9-VENUS biosensor responds to changes in jasmonic acid levels in plant cells within a few minutes. Our new biosensor now allows us to see exactly where jasmonic acid is being perceived by the plant, but in a quantifiable way."

The new biosensor can be used to understand how the plant can coordinate a defence response. Teva Vernoux, a CNRS group leader at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Lyon, said: "The amazing sensitivity of our new biosensor allows us to follow in real time how jasmonic acid levels are modified in a tissue when a mechanical damage occurs in another tissue some distance away. This really opens the possibility to understand changes in the physiology at the whole plant level upon stress or damage."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
University of Nottingham
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








FLORA AND FAUNA
Out of the pouch: Ancient DNA from extinct giant roos
Adelaide, Australia (SPX) Jan 20, 2015
Scientists have finally managed to extract DNA from Australia's extinct giant kangaroos - the mysterious marsupial megafauna that roamed Australia over 40,000 years ago. A team of scientists led by Dr Bastien Llamas and Professor Alan Cooper from the University of Adelaide's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) have extracted DNA sequences from two species: a giant short-faced kangaroo ... read more


FLORA AND FAUNA
Pope euphoria quickly fades in Philippine typhoon zone

Pope attracts world-record crowd in wet Philippines

Tugboat sinking in China kills 22 including 8 foreigners

Can quake-hit Haiti manufacture itself a hi-tech future?

FLORA AND FAUNA
Japan researchers target 3D-printed body parts

Laser-generated surface structures create extremely water-repellent metals

New laser-patterning technique turns metals into supermaterials

Integrating with multiferroic materials and devices silicon chips

FLORA AND FAUNA
Atmospheric rivers, aerosol particles, and California reservoirs

Biggest fish in the ocean receives international protection

Wildlife loss in the global ocean

For sea turtles, there's no place like magnetic home

FLORA AND FAUNA
Giant atmospheric rivers add mass to Antarctica's ice sheet

Canada to stage helicopter wolf hunt to save caribou

Chinese company takes over Greenland mine project

Sea Shepherd in epic chase of Antarctic 'poaching' ship

FLORA AND FAUNA
Transgenic crops: Multiple toxins not a panacea for pest control

Antiquity of dairying on Emerald Isle revealed

More birds culled as Taiwan battles worst avian flu in 10 years

China's aquaculture sector could rebalance global fish supplies

FLORA AND FAUNA
Tongan volcano creates new island: officials

Six perish as tropical storm lashes Madagascar

Rescuing farmland after a flood

Floods kill 71 in Mozambique: disaster management

FLORA AND FAUNA
Chad army vehicles head for Cameroon to fight Boko Haram

Ugandan LRA rebel commander to be tried at ICC, army says

Bashir riding high at launch of Sudan re-election bid

African moon bid seeks boost for spacecraft blast off

FLORA AND FAUNA
Did the Anthropocene begin with the nuclear age?

Success at work influenced by personality of your spouse

Stress and social media: it's complicated

World's oldest butchering tools gave evolutionary edge to speech




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.