Clever plants Do arithmetic!
By zteve t evans
Incredible as it may seem researchers have discovered that Arabidopsis plants are actually using arithmetic calculations to ensure they have enough starch to keep them alive overnight.
Starch
Plants produce starch which they need for survival in the daylight hours through photosynthesis. At night they are dependent on the starch they have produced and stored during daylight for their survival. Without starch they cannot grow and would start to starve. Even after sunrise they take several hours to recover in the daylight. Using an insufficient quantity of starch results in wasted energy.
Plant arithmetic
A discovery by research scientists from the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, UK , reveals that plants appear to assess the amount of starch they have available to them. They then divide it by the number of hours of darkness to make sure the correct levels are used through out the night. The researchers discovered that plants even adjust calculations to allow for variations in the hours of darkness, rationing starch to suit their needs.
According to the scientists, the arithmetic is unlike that which happens in the brains of animals or humans but occurs at a more fundamental level. Although it was known that plants controlled their starch levels in some way it was not known how. The capacity to perform arithmetic calculation is vital for plant growth and productivity.
"The calculations are precise so that plants prevent starvation but also make the most efficient use of their food,” explained Professor Alison Smith, a metabolic biologist.
The scientists made this discovery when they studied a member of the mustard family called
Arabidopsis thaliana which was used as the model plant. When the lighting to the plants was changed by either providing longer or shorter hours of darkness, they found the plant was able to slow down, or accelerate the speed which it used starch through the dark periods until light was provided.
The “S” and “T” molecules
To explain this scientists think that there are two kinds of molecules that control this action. One for starch they have dubbed the "S" molecule, the other for time they dub "T" molecule
Professor Smith explained, “We propose there is a molecule called S which tracks the amount of starch in the plant, and a molecule called T which tracks the time until dawn. The closer to dawn you get, the less of T and S you have.”
How birds manage energy
In the journal eLife, Professor Smith and colleague Professor Martin Howard said the equation could be used to explain other phenomena in nature, for example, how birds manage energy levels in migration.
They said little stints (Calidris minuta) are small wading birds that breeds arctic regions of Europe and Asia. During the winter months they migrate to parts of Africa and south Asia. They can fly 5,000km to their breeding sites in the Arctic and arrive with only enough fat reserves to survive another 14 hours. While male emperor penguins who take on the task of incubating the family eggs for four months run out of fat supplies just at the time their partner returns. This theory may also help to explain how birds and animals regulate fat reserves.
© 23/11/2014 zteve t evans
Plants produce starch which they need for survival in the daylight hours through photosynthesis. At night they are dependent on the starch they have produced and stored during daylight for their survival. Without starch they cannot grow and would start to starve. Even after sunrise they take several hours to recover in the daylight. Using an insufficient quantity of starch results in wasted energy.
Plant arithmetic
A discovery by research scientists from the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, UK , reveals that plants appear to assess the amount of starch they have available to them. They then divide it by the number of hours of darkness to make sure the correct levels are used through out the night. The researchers discovered that plants even adjust calculations to allow for variations in the hours of darkness, rationing starch to suit their needs.
According to the scientists, the arithmetic is unlike that which happens in the brains of animals or humans but occurs at a more fundamental level. Although it was known that plants controlled their starch levels in some way it was not known how. The capacity to perform arithmetic calculation is vital for plant growth and productivity.
"The calculations are precise so that plants prevent starvation but also make the most efficient use of their food,” explained Professor Alison Smith, a metabolic biologist.
The scientists made this discovery when they studied a member of the mustard family called
Arabidopsis thaliana which was used as the model plant. When the lighting to the plants was changed by either providing longer or shorter hours of darkness, they found the plant was able to slow down, or accelerate the speed which it used starch through the dark periods until light was provided.
The “S” and “T” molecules
To explain this scientists think that there are two kinds of molecules that control this action. One for starch they have dubbed the "S" molecule, the other for time they dub "T" molecule
Professor Smith explained, “We propose there is a molecule called S which tracks the amount of starch in the plant, and a molecule called T which tracks the time until dawn. The closer to dawn you get, the less of T and S you have.”
How birds manage energy
In the journal eLife, Professor Smith and colleague Professor Martin Howard said the equation could be used to explain other phenomena in nature, for example, how birds manage energy levels in migration.
They said little stints (Calidris minuta) are small wading birds that breeds arctic regions of Europe and Asia. During the winter months they migrate to parts of Africa and south Asia. They can fly 5,000km to their breeding sites in the Arctic and arrive with only enough fat reserves to survive another 14 hours. While male emperor penguins who take on the task of incubating the family eggs for four months run out of fat supplies just at the time their partner returns. This theory may also help to explain how birds and animals regulate fat reserves.
© 23/11/2014 zteve t evans
References and Attributions
Copyright 23rd November 2014 zteve t evans
Copyright 23rd November 2014 zteve t evans
- File:Arabidopsis thaliana.jpg - From Wikimedia Commons - Original uploader User:Roepers at nl.wikipedia - GNU Free Documentation License. - This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
- Arabidopsis plants perform arithmetic division to prevent starvation at night
- Antonio Scialdone, Sam T Mugford, Doreen Feike, Alastair Skeffington, Philippa Borrill, Alexander Graf, Alison M Smith, Martin Howard
- Arabidopsis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Arabidopsis thaliana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Little Stint (Calidris minuta) - BirdLife species factsheet
- Emperor Penguin - National Geographic