clhs sciblog

Most people think that plants, although they are alive, cannot defend themselves. In an experiment,  scientists injected plants with a pathogenic bacterium. After several days, the plants began to yellow and show signs of being diseased. However, some of the plants’ roots had been injected with a microbe called Bacillus subtilis, and those plants were completely healthy. Farmers usually add this microbe to their soil to increase their plants’ immunity. But scientists noticed a “cry for help” in the plants injected with the Bacillus subtilis by using molecular biological tools. The distress signal reached from the plants’ roots to its leaves. The roots responded to this distress signal by releasing a carbon-rich chemical-malic acid. All plants release malic acids, but only in certain conditions and for certain purposes.

Scientists are still further studying this experimnet and trying to bring it to new levels. They are now trying to discover what the signal from the root to the leaves is. You can read more about this scientific breakthrough here.