How plants fine tune their natural chemical defenses
Sunday, September 7, 2008 - 16:07
in Biology & Nature
Even closely related plants produce their own natural chemical cocktails, each set uniquely adapted to the individual plant's specific habitat. Comparing anti-fungals produced by tobacco and henbane, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered that only a few mutations in a key enzyme are enough to shift the whole output to an entirely new product mixture. Making fewer changes led to a mixture of henbane and tobacco-specific molecules and even so-called "chemical hybrids," explaining how plants can tinker with their natural chemical factories and adjust their product line to a changing environment without shutting down intracellular chemical factories completely.
Read the whole article on Biology News Net
More from Biology News Net
Related
- How plants fine tune their natural chemical defensesSun, 7 Sep 2008, 13:29:25 EDT
- Synthetic chemical offers solution for crops facing droughtThu, 30 Apr 2009, 14:39:23 EDT
- Nature’s own chemical plantMon, 10 Nov 2008, 13:57:19 EST
- ASU researchers synthesize molecule with self-controlMon, 12 May 2008, 18:07:24 EDT
- Plants in forest emit aspirin chemical to deal with stress; discovery may help agricultureThu, 18 Sep 2008, 11:36:39 EDT