In the seeds there is a molecular ‘thermometer’ that detects the ambient temperature to delay or block germination when it’s too hot. The discovery, which could prove useful for optimizing plant growth with respect to global warming, is published in Nature Communications by a Swiss research team led by Luis Lopez-Molina of the University of Geneva.
The study focused on the seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant of the Brassicaceae family which is very often used as a model in research laboratories. Scholars have dissected the seeds separating their two fundamental components: the embryo, from which the seedling develops, and the endosperm, the tissue that surrounds and nourishes the embryo. In this way it has been discovered that the embryo without the endosperm does not perceive the external temperature and is unable to block germination when it is too hot. The molecular ‘thermometer’ in action in the endosperm is phytochrome B, a protein sensitive to light and temperature which acts by slowing down the growth of the plant.
‘We found that thermal inhibition in Arabidopsis is not autonomously controlled by the embryo, but is implemented by the endosperm, revealing a new function essential for this tissue,’ comments first author of the study, Urszula Piskurewicz of the University of Geneva. “In other words, in the absence of the endosperm, the embryo in the seed would not be able to sense if temperatures are too high and so it would start germination with fatal outcomes.”
Thermal inhibition of germination “could have an impact on species distribution and agriculture – adds Luis Lopez-Molina – and this impact will be even greater as temperatures increase globally”.
Source: Ansa
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