- Slug: Audio-Plant Talk
- Runtime: 3:55
- Downloadable audio here. (Note: Some web browsers may not support media download
SCIENTISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ARE STUDYING HOW PLANTS “TALK” TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT.
CRONKITE NEWS’ EMMA VANDENEINDE [VAN-din-ine-dee] TAKES US INTO THEIR LAB TO LEARN ABOUT HOW THIS COMMUNICATION COULD IMPROVE CROP SUSTAINABILITY IN THE FUTURE.
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<NAT SND…TISSUE HOMOGENIZER…UP FULL 3 SX, FADE UNDER>
IT SOUNDS LIKE A BLENDER YOU’D FIND IN THE KITCHEN. BUT IT HAS A FANCIER NAME THAN THAT.
<Jesse Woodson/Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
“So this is a tissue homogenizer.” (4 SECONDS)
THAT’S JESSE WOODSON, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT U-ARIZONA’S SCHOOL OF PLANT SCIENCES.
<Jesse Woodson/Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
Me: “So those little gear things, that’s what causes the plant to tear up?”
Jesse: “Yeah…plant tissue is very tough and it’s hard to break open…This homogenizer is basically a very fancy blender that breaks open the cells so we can pull out those chloroplasts to do experiments in the lab.” (18 SECONDS)
COLLECTING CHLOROPLASTS IS JUST ONE OF THE MANY EXPERIMENTS WOODSON AND HIS TEAM ARE PERFORMING TO UNDERSTAND HOW PLANTS RESPOND TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT.
<Jesse Woodson/Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
“We want to be able to establish communication with plants. And in order to do that, we need to know how plants are thinking about their environment and be able to sense their environment.” (14 SECONDS)
THEY’RE NOT THE ONLY ONES SEEKING ANSWERS. LAST OCTOBER, THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GAVE 25 MILLION DOLLARS TO FOUR UNIVERSITIES TO DO RESEARCH ON PLANT SYSTEMS. THE TEAMS ARE MADE UP OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS WHO ARE ALL STUDYING PLANT COMMUNICATION.
THREE-POINT-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS WENT TO U-ARIZONA TO MEASURE MOLECULAR PLANT BIOLOGY IN REAL TIME. THE PROJECT IS JUST GETTING STARTED, WHICH MEANS PLENTY OF BLENDER NOISES…
<NAT SND…TISSUE HOMOGENIZER…UP FULL 2 SX, FADE UNDER>
WE MIGHT NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF PLANTS, BUT THEY’RE ACTUALLY VERY “TALKATIVE”. REBECCA MOSHER, THE LEAD INVESTIGATOR ON THE PROJECT, SAYS PLANTS SEND INTERNAL SIGNALS ALL THE TIME.
<Rebecca Mosher/Lead Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
“They might be sending those signals internally within the body of the plant to help the shoots understand what’s going on in the roots. They might be sending those signals to microbes in the soil to try to recruit those microbes.” (14 SECONDS)
BEFORE THEY CAN MEASURE THAT COMMUNICATION, THE PLANTS NEED TO GROW FIRST, OUT IN THE GREENHOUSES ON THE ROOF OF THE UNIVERSITY PARKING GARAGE.
<NAT SND…GREENHOUSE LIGHTS/FANS…UP FULL 2 SX, FADE UNDER>
THAT’S WHERE THEIR ENVIRONMENT GETS ALTERED.
<Rebecca Mosher/Lead Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
“We might give it very high light or lots of heat, a whole variety of abiotic stresses. We can also infect it with pathogens, so a biotic stress. And then we’ll collect that tissue and take it into the laboratory.” (15 SECONDS)
<NAT SND…LAB NOISE…UP FULL 2 SX, FADE UNDER>
INSIDE THE LAB, THE TEAM LOOKS AT PLANT CELLS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE. BUT TO GET TO THE MOLECULAR LEVEL, A PLANT NEEDS TO GO THROUGH A SERIES OF CELL EXTRACTION METHODS, FROM BEING JOSTLED IN VIALS FILLED WITH BEADS…
<NAT SND…TISSUE DISRUPTOR…UP FULL 2 SX, FADE UNDER>
…TO BEING SHREDDED BY THAT TISSUE HOMOGENIZER, FROM EARLIER.
PLANTS ARE ALREADY BUILT TO RESPOND TO THESE CHANGES. THIS DIFFERS FROM HUMANS, WOODSON SAYS, SINCE WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO RUN AWAY FROM HARM.
<Jesse Woodson/Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
“A plant has to stay there and they have to deal with whatever happens. So if it’s a hot day, it’s a dry day, there’s too much sun, if there’s not enough sun, the plant needs to do something about that in order to grow.” (14 SECONDS)
PLANTS NEED TO PUSH THROUGH THE HEAT. WOODSON SAYS ARIZONA OFFERS THAT UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT FOR TESTING.
<Jesse Woodson/Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
“Our environment is incredibly hot, incredibly arid, the world is going to be turning more and more like Arizona as the planet heats up.” (10 SECONDS)
WOODSON SAYS THEIR EXPERIMENTS COULD HELP CREATE A STRONGER, MORE SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT OF PLANTS AND CROPS.
<Jesse Woodson/Investigator, Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), UA>
“If we can understand how plants grow with limited water in really hot environments, perhaps we can create new breeds and varieties that would be able to grow better.” (14 SECONDS)
THE PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO LAST FIVE YEARS. MORE RESEARCH, THEY SAY, COULD UNLOCK MORE ABOUT PLANTS AND HOW THEY ARE ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
EMMA VANDENEINDE, CRONKITE NEWS.