Studies done on parasitic witchweeds as well
as plants that thrive in the aftermath of bushfires have enabled researchers at
the University of Western Australia to unlock two secrets of seed germination –
linked to parasitism and fire.
Witchweeds
are parasites that live off a range of weedy grasses and cereal crops. Its
seeds lie dormant in the soil until an unsuspecting host plant starts to grow,
producing host chemical signals called strigolactones in the process. The
strigolactones kick-start the seeds into life which then attack the host. In
Africa and Asia, witchweeds cause serious losses to food production.
In the
second case, a different group of seeds lies dormant in the soil until a
bushfire passes overhead. The following rains send chemical signals called
karrikins (‘smoke’ substances) into the soil to tell these seeds to germinate
and exploit the sunny, nutritious environment above for reproduction. Karrikins
thus play a vital role in landscape regeneration after fire.
Strigolactones
and karrikins comprise a family of related chemical agents that are able to
trigger the same molecular machinery to stimulate seed germination. However,
karrikins do not stimulate witchweeds and strigolactones do not stimulate
smoke-responsive species.
The
discovery of the two related genes that distinguish the two signals was led by
Dr. Mark Waters of the ARC Center of Excellence for Plant Energy Biology, and
published in the journal Development.
“It’s
like having two keys to open two different doors of the same control box. Each
key has to match the correct lock but both get access to the controls,” said
Waters.
“It
appears that plants have adapted a common mechanism for two very different
cases of opportunism – parasitism and fire.”
This
research may provide scientists the know-how to develop new strategies to
encourage seeds to germinate, whether for forest rehabilitation, conservation,
crop production, or eradication of weeds.
The
article can be found at: Waters MT et al. (2012) Specialisation within the
DWARF14 protein family confers distinct responses to karrikins and
strigolactones in Arabidopsis.
Sarah
Chin
AsianScientist
Source: University of Western Australia.
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