Can we talk with plants?

How can the plants talk together, with insects and microorganisms?

Go far from me

Food

Hey every body,

come here

How can the microorganisms talk together?

How can the insects talk together?

I love you

Me to

Can we know these languages?

YES

Language!

alrahman3@hotmail.comAhmed.abdelaziz@must.edu.eg

Tel: 00201228188759

ByProf. Ahmed Z. Abdel Azeiz

College of BiotechnologyMUST

All of these languages consist of few words

Each word is a chemical compound

The languages is the way to communicate with the surround

‘Quorum Sensing’ (QS) describes the phenomenon whereby the accumulation of signaling molecules enable a single cell to sense the number of bacteria (cell density).

Microbial language

1- Quorum sensing:

From http://www.advancedhealing.com/quorum-sensing-and-biofilm/

• The single cells of slime molds moves (1mm/hr.) toward one cell to form a plasmodium (ameba like structure).

• The moving signal is cyclic AMP.

= every body, come here

2- Slime molds aggregation:

• Siderophres are chemical compounds produced by a microorganism to bind with metal ions to be available only for this microorganism.

3- Siderophores:

= This ion is mine

Some siderophores structures

Pheromones are substances secreted by an insect or animal to influence the behavior of other animals of the same specie.

It have several types:1-Sexual attractors produced by the females.2- Alarm pheromones.

Insect’s language

1- Insect pheromones:

• Scientists have been able to identify the chemical structure of many insect pheromones.

• It is used mainly in insect traps for control of insect.

• It is used also in the insect repellent pastes.

Structure of some insects pheromones

= The food is in this direction

Monomorine 1

= I’m alive (Don’t carry me)

Ref. Hideo Iida, Yohya Watanabe, Chihiro Kibayash (1986). A stereoselective synthesis of the ant trail pheromone (±)-monomorine .Tetrahedron Letters, 27 ( 45): 5513-5514

Ant’s pheromone:

From http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/039-Life-Chemicals-039-Tell-Ants-When-to-Bury-Their-Dead-2.jpg/I’m not dead yet. Scientific American 301, 29 (2009)

• Ref. Tania Molina-Jiménez, Ana G. Gutiérrez-García, Carlos M. Contreras. (2013). An alarm pheromone increases the responsivity of amygdaline-hippocampal neurons. Salud Mental, 36:279-284

= Danger2-heptanon

= Danger

Animal’s alarm pheromones

The plant language

Hey my friends, I’m here.

Friends

Ok, we are coming

Enemies

Did you hear that,

let’s go

The plant signals can be produced:• Externally• Internally

Volatile compounds, root exudates, flower colors and shape, toxins,….

Come here my dearest

insect.

1- insects attraction:

Flower colors and shape Odor

The plants attract insects through

Some examples:1- The palm trees attract the red beetle.2- Tomato plants attracts the whitefly.

A red beetle infected palm tree. .

Did you see what can I do? and

you can’t do any thing for me!

The insect trap for the palm beetle control

The whitefly whitefly-transmitted closterovirus in tomatoes

Ref. Gail, et al; (1997). New whitefly-transmitted closterovirus identified in tomatoes California Agriculture 51(2):24-26

Phytoalexins are chemical compounds produced by plants upon microbial or insect infection.

• Upon infection, the plant produces active oxygen species within minutes of interaction, when the plant recognizes the elicitors, cell wall components of the pathogen or the produced enzymes.

• As the active oxygen species accumulate, plant resistance to the pathogen is increased, killing of cells in contact with the pathogen (hypersensitive response) (HR).

 

2- Phytoalexins: 

This oxidative stress directly activates the cell death or hypersensitive response at the site of infection and serve as an amplifier of the alarm signal to the plant cells that are not come into contact with the pathogen,

That is activation of Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR). It combined with production of defense proteins called PRP (pathogenesis related proteins).

• Salicylic acid (SA) is an essential signal molecule for the SAR, as it activates a large set of genes that encode pathogenesis-related proteins (PRPs) with antimicrobial and hydrolytic enzymes inhibition activities.

= Attention

Family Properties PR-1 antifungal, 14-17kD

PR-2 endo-beta-1,3-glucanases, 25-35kD PR-3 class I, II, IV, V, VI, and VII endochitinases, about 30kD

PR-4 antifungal, win-like proteins, endochitinase activity, similar to prohevein C-terminal domain, 13-19kD

PR-5 antifungal, thaumatin-like proteins, osmotins, zeamatins, permeatins,

similar to alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitors PR-6 protease inhibitors, 6-13kD PR-7 endoproteases PR-8 class III chitinases, chitinase/lysozyme PR-9 peroxidases, peroxidase-like proteins

PR-10 ribonucleases, Bet v 1-related proteins PR-11 endochitinase activity PR-12 plant defensins

PR-13 thionins PR-14 nonspecific lipid transfer proteins (ns-LTPs) PR-15 oxalate oxidase

PR-16 oxalate-oxidase-like proteins

PR-17 unknown

Ref.:Bowles, D.J.: Defense-related proteins in higher plants., Annu. Rev. Biochem., 59, 873-907 (1990).

Classes of PR proteins

PGiP: Polygalacturonase inhibiting proteins are LRR proteins that are present in the apoplast of dicots and some monocots.

Salicylic acid

• Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR) is typically activated upon colonization of plant roots by beneficial microorganisms.

• ISR is commonly regulated by jasmonic acid (JA)- and ethylene (ET)-dependent signaling pathways.

= Be readyor

Microbe-plant language

Plant-plant language

• The roots of several plants produce biochemical compounds to attract and activate the benefit microorganisms and inhibit the other enemies.• These compounds can be understood by some enemies such as parasitic weeds.

For example:The roots of Faba bean exudtaes strigolactones and phthalate compounds. These compounds activate the seeds germination of Orobanche plants (a parasitic weed of Faba bean)

The animal language

Voice Body language

The cats and dogs language consist of few voice words. These are to express that they are afraid, want a food, and some the other basic requirements.

The language development

Microorganisms

Insects

Biochemical signals, body language and several voices

Plants

Biochemical signals and some voices

Biochemical signals and colors

Biochemical signals

Animals