Plants Use “Language” to Communicate
A scientist at Virginia Tech has discovered potentially new form of communication of the plant, allowing them to share an extraordinary amount of genetic information between themselves.
The discovery by Jim Westwood, professor of plant pathology, physiology and weed science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, opens the door to a new field of science that explores how plants communicate with each other at a molecular level. It also gives scientists new insight into how to fight parasitic weeds that wreak havoc on food crops in some of the poorest regions of the world.
Their findings were published on August 15 in the journal Science.
"The discovery of this new form of communication between agencies shows that this happens much more than what you have already done," Westwood, which is affiliated with the Institute of Life Sciences Fralin researcher said. "Now that we have found to share this information, the next question is," What exactly did you say the other?
Professor Jim Westwood has discovered that parasitic plants and their hosts
have extensive communications with each other and exchange vast amounts of
information. He used dodder and tomato plants, shown in this time-lapse
video, for his experiment that measured the exchange of mRNA between
species.
Westwood examined the relationship between a parasitic plant, dodder, and two
host plants, Arabidopsis and tomatoes. In order to suck the moisture and
nutrients out the host plants, dodder uses an appendage called a haustorium to
penetrate the plant. Westwood previously broke new ground when he found that
during this parasitic interaction, there is a transport of RNA between the two
species. RNA translates information passed down from DNA, which is an
organism’s blueprint.
His new work expands this scope of this exchange and examines the mRNA, or
messenger RNA, which sends messages within cells telling them which actions to
take, such as which proteins to code. It was thought that mRNA was very
fragile and short-lived, so transferring it between species was unimaginable.
But Westwood found that during this parasitic relationship, thousands upon
thousands of mRNA molecules were being exchanged between both plants, creating
this open dialogue between the species that allows them to freely communicate.
Through this exchange, the parasitic plants may be dictating what the host
plant should do, such as lowering its defenses so that the parasitic plant can
more easily attack it. Westwood’s next project is aimed at finding out exactly
what the mRNA are saying. His work is sponsored by the National Science
Foundation.
Using this newfound information, scientists can now examine if other organisms
such a bacteria and fungi also exchange information in a similar fashion. His
finding could also help solve issues of food scarcity.
“Parasitic plants such as witchweed and broomrape are serious problems for
legumes and other crops that help feed some of the poorest regions in Africa
and elsewhere,” said Julie Scholes, a professor at the University of
Sheffield, U.K., who is familiar with Westwood’s work but was not part of this
project. “In addition to shedding new light on host-parasite communication,
Westwood’s findings have exciting implications for the design of novel control
strategies based on disrupting the mRNA information that the parasite uses to
reprogram the host.”
Westwood said that while his finding is fascinating, how this is applied will
be equally as interesting.
“The beauty of this discovery is that this mRNA could be the Achilles heel for
parasites,” Westwood said. “This is all really exciting because there are so
many potential implications surrounding this new information.”
Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia
Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the science and
business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement. The
college’s comprehensive curriculum gives more than 3,100 students in a dozen
academic departments a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber
production to economics to human health. Students learn from the world’s
leading agricultural scientists, who bring the latest science and technology
into the classroom.
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