Lets take a moment away from the super bowl this weekend a have a look at some super plants (and super plant studies) that are changing the way we look at botany and cell biology…

At the VanAndel Institute, here in Grand Rapids, Mi. , researchers are working towards developing plants more resistant to cold and cold stress. They are specifically looking at the hormone abscisic acid (or ABA). This hormone is produced by the plant when it starts to become stressed, i.e. when the weather turns cold or when it is extremely hot and dry. It is the same hormone that makes deciduous trees loose their leaves in the fall.

Make sense?

Researchers Eric Xu and Karsten Melcher are among seven on the team studying how the hormones receptors work. New discoveries are being uncovered on how the hormone works within the plant (the more we know about how something works-the easier it is to manipulate it to do what we want) on a cellular level.

Theoretically, if we can change how ABA affects a plant, and reduce its production within the plant, than we should have the ability to reduce the reactionary effects of  frost, drought and salinity on plants. Countries that are not able to grow their own food suddenly may have a crop that can now survive in their conditions. We would also be able to  take an existing crop with poor production and develop it to produce more food because the plant is less stressed.

Frost has the largest impact on citrus fruit farmers and vineyards. It is a worry that global weather changes will increase the intensity and frequency of frost in years to come.

Not only could this affect the global food shortage significantly, but it also could have a profound influence on human health studies. Plant cell biology is strongly connected to human cell biology (cytology). If we could find out how to reduce cell stress in our systems we could possibly reduce the effects of (or prevent) cardiovascular disease, liver disease and cancer. We could also develop ways to help our bodies recover after we have been through trauma or treatments such as radiation. That in itself should get you rooting for the super plants and the super plant team!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 5:26 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.