Respiration In Plants

Plant defence response echoes human diseases

The joint research conducted by UWA and the CSIRO has shown that compounds that were previously thought to be harmful are a valuable part of a plants defence network.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are toxic, chemically reactive molecules that are formed as a natural byproduct of metabolism in plants, animals and humans and are usually countered by inbuilt defence systems to prevent cellular damage.

UWA Winthrop Professor Harvey Millar says that prior to this research ROS were thought to be “cellular trash” that played no part in plant defence systems.

“All [Researchers] thought we knew what it did and it had absolutely nothing to do with plants responding to bacteria and fungi,” Prof Millar says.

Researchers then monitored the plants to see how they responded to fungal or bacterial attack.

Prof Millar says the results defied conventional thinking on plant respiration and showed that ROS are a part of a plants defence system that assist in the detection of pathogens.

“What this actually showed was that plants use this process, this ROS production, as a part of signaling for turning on defensive pathways,” Millar says.

“If you think about these plants as being blind to fungus and bacteria than [ROS] effectively is part of their sight system.”

The findings are important because they offer a completely new pathway for agricultural research as well as the potential to crossover into other disciplines.

“It is not something people have been working on,” Millar says.

“It’s something completely blue-sky…there are potentially lots of new targets that can arise from this which would allow us to manipulate the way plants cope with bacterial and fungal attack.”

The research could also help research into human diseases due to the specific area in which the mutation occurs.

Prof Millar says the area of the sequence in which the mutation occurs is 100 per cent conserved between plants and humans.

“The type of information can lead people in different fields doing certain types of experiments… because the proteins are so similar,” he says.

“In a strange way we could end up with the outcome where this plant research actually starts to give us an insight into the way mutations in human disease cause different kinds of cancer.”

The plants used in the study were genetically modified so they were not able to produce the same amount of ROS as a normal plant.

Plants CO2 and the process of respiration Health Articles

Plants CO2 and the process of respiration

Is there Life apart from our home planet Earth?

According to the movies, the answer to this question is often quite in the affirmative, thanks to blockbusters such as Independence Day and most recently, Battle: Los Angeles.

Most people liked the former but not the latter, which was pretty strange yet the consensus on this question is not necessarily a part of one persons conspiracy theory, possible paranoia or even these alien sightings.

According to some people, it is presumed that if God did indeed create man in his own image, then he/ she would be smart enough to create them on another planet as well, either in our galaxy or the next.

Theres only one problem, though the great blue-green ball that we call the Earth is the only planet that actually has air unlike most of the other planets in our solar system. So, its highly unlikely that people could survive out there unless we plan to take plants out there

The Process of Photosynthesis, Respiration and Plants CO2

While the process of photosynthesis has been spoken about the most, whether this is in schools and in the hallowed halls of college education, there is yet another process that plants undergo where they contribute a certain amount of carbon-di-oxide to the atmosphere but more than make up for it when it comes to the aforementioned life-giving process.

This process which emits carbon-di-oxide is commonly referred to as respiration, and occurs not only in humans and animals but also in plants as well.

The reason for this process to occur is due to the fact that during the process of photosynthesis, oxygen is emitted as a waste product but the plant makes its own food which is converted into sugar during this process. Of course, the plant needs to consume the food, and thus respiration occurs where plants CO2 is also emitted as a result.

From a scientific point of view, the chemical reaction required to metabolize the sugar is directly opposite to the equation of photosynthesis. You must understand that without either of these processes, the plant will not be able to survive. Interestingly, respiration in plants happen both during the day and at night as well, and during this time release carbon-di-oxide as a result.

Yet what is important about this reaction is that it just like humans and animals use oxygen to do this, while also producing water too.

(Heres a link that can give you a bit more information on all plant processes too.

Respiration in plants

Respiration in plants

Plant respiration, from cell to ecosystem

... Respiration in plants

Respiration in plants