2014_04 Red Light Soothes Plant Pain

Rotlicht Schmerz Peter Nick
Wounding induces the release of the stress hormone jasmonic acid. Light is suppressing this response.

What is the topic?

Plants do not scream. This does not mean that they do not know pain. They respond to wounding by formation of the alarm signal jasmonic acid. By means of a mechanical caterpillar that allows to administer wounding in a standardised manner, team member Rita Brendel investigated, how young rice plants respond to pain. She could show that phytochrome (a protein, that allows plants to perceive red light) can sooth the wound reaction. This allows plants to steer their wound response depending on day time - plants scream louder in the dark...

 

Publication

106. Brendel R, Svyatyna K, Jikumaru Y, Reichelt M, Mithöfer A, Takano M, Kamiya Y, Nick P, Riemann M (2014) Effects of light and wounding on jasmonates in rice phyAphyC mutants. Plants 3, 143-159 - pdf