(July 29, 2015) University of Adelaide research has shown for
the first time that, despite not having a nervous system, plants use signals
normally associated with animals when they encounter stress.
Published today in the journal Nature Communications, the
researchers at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in
Plant Energy Biology reported how plants respond to their environment with a
similar combination of chemical and electrical responses to animals, but
through machinery that is specific to plants.
“We’ve known for a long-time that the animal
neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is produced by plants under
stress, for example when they encounter drought, salinity, viruses, acidic
soils or extreme temperatures,” says senior author Associate Professor Matthew
Gilliham, ARC Future Fellow in the University’s School of Agriculture, Food and
Wine.
“But it was not known whether GABA was a signal in plants.
We’ve discovered that plants bind GABA in a similar way to animals, resulting
in electrical signals that ultimately regulate plant growth when a plant is
exposed to a stressful environment.”
By identifying how plants respond to GABA the researchers
are optimistic that they have opened up many new possibilities for modifying
how plants respond to stress.
“The major stresses agricultural crops face like pathogens
and poor environmental conditions account for most yield losses around the
planet – and consequently food shortages,” says co-lead author Professor
Stephen Tyerman.
“By identifying how plants use GABA as a stress signal we
have a new tool to help in the global effort to breed more stress resilient
crops to fight food insecurity.”