Natures wonders: plants fight infections with genome change (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, August 26, 2022, 17:49 (608 days ago) @ David Turell

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220825164126.htm

"Crops and other plants are often under attack from bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. When a plant senses a microbial invasion, it makes radical changes in the chemical soup of proteins -- the workhorse molecules of life -- inside its cells.

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"In a 2017 study, Dong and her team found that when a plant is infected, certain mRNA molecules are translated into proteins faster than others. What these mRNA molecules have in common, the researchers discovered, is a region at the front end of the RNA strand with recurring letters in its genetic code, where the nucleotide bases adenine and guanine repeat themselves over and over again.

"In the new study, Dong, Wang and colleagues show how this region works with other structures inside the cell to activate "wartime" protein production.

"They showed that when plants detect a pathogen attack, the molecular signposts that signal the usual starting point for ribosomes to land on and read the mRNA are removed, which keeps the cell from making its typical "peacetime" proteins.

"Instead, ribosomes bypass the usual starting point for translation, using the region of recurring As and Gs within the RNA molecule for docking and start reading from there instead.

"They basically take a shortcut," Dong said.

"For plants, fighting infection is a balancing act, Dong said. Allocating more resources to defense means less is available for photosynthesis and other activities in the business of life. Producing too many defense proteins can create collateral damage: plants with an over-active immune system suffer stunted growth.

"By understanding how plants strike this balance, Dong said, scientists hope to find new ways to engineer disease-resistant crops without compromising yield."

Comment: a,ll organisms can be attacked by pathogens. This is the designed mechanism provided for plants.