14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers from the University of Leicester and the Oxford University have recently made an amazing discovery, one that carries very important implications for the way human kind will be able to grow plants after global warming increases worldwide temperatures beyond the thresholds the latter are now accustomed to. The team has also analyzed the impact that their finds have on the food supply, as well as the implications that climate change will bring for these cultures.
“Exposure of plants to high temperature results in the rapid elongation of stems and a dramatic upwards elevation of leaves. These responses are accompanied by a significant reduction in plant biomass, thereby severely reducing harvest yield. Our study has revealed that a single gene product regulates all these architectural adaptations in the model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana,” university of Leicester Department of Biology researcher Dr. Kerry Franklin explains. A paper detailing the find is published in the journal Current Biology, having been funded by the Royal Society and the BBSRC.
“This study provides the first major advance in understanding how plants regulate growth responses to elevated temperature at the molecular level. This discovery will prove fundamental in understanding the effects of global climate change on crop productivity,” the expert adds, saying that, most likely, all plants have their growth regulated by the same gene.
Apparently, more heat and sunlight force the plants to grow faster, and, in the process, they lose a lot of mass. This means that, even though they look good in the field, their actual weight and nutritional value are well below average.
“Identification of the mechanisms by which plants sense changes in ambient temperature remains a Holy Grail in plant biology research. Although the identity of such ‘temperature sensors’ remains elusive, the discovery of a key downstream regulator brings us closer to addressing this important question,” Franklin concludes. According to the researcher, the main gene responsible for accelerated growth is the Phytochrome Interacting Factor 4, also known as PIF4.
Plants that have been engineered to lack this protein exhibit less elongation of their stems and less lead elevation than others in which PIF4 has been left to act as it pleases. Scientists hypothesize that plants incorporate light and temperature in their growing process, by activating the same genes and proteins at the same time, a find that could eventually lead experts to a new way of inhibiting this from happening, and thus preventing the overgrowing of plants and the loss of their nutrients.