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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Night Moves"
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THE RHYTHM OF PLANTS... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. SCIENTISTS AT U-C SAN DIEGO, THE SALK INSTITUTE, AND OREGON STATE HAVE IDENTIFIED GENES THAT CONTROL RHYTHMIC PLANT GROWTH. NO, THIS ISN'T ABOUT PLAYING ROOTS-ROCK TO YOUR RHODODENDRON, OR HIP-HOP TO YOUR HIBISCUS. THE RHYTHMS INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS ARE CIRCADIAN: THE SAME ONES THAT CAN GIVE US JET-LAG WHEN FLYING INTO DISTANT TIME-ZONES ALSO HELP REGULATE PLANT-GROWTH--AND HAVE FASCINATED BOTANISTS SINCE THE DAYS OF DARWIN. PLANTS DON'T GROW STEADILY; THEY DO THEIR GROWING AT A TIME WHEN THEY'RE NOT COMPETING FOR LIGHT--IN THE NIGHT, ESPECIALLY JUST BEFORE DAWN. WHILE YOU'RE ASLEEP, YOUR PLANTS ARE GETTING A MAJOR GROWTH SPURT--THANKS TO A COMPLEX INTERPLAY OF GROWTH HORMONES, LIGHT SENSORS, AND THOSE CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS. THE GENES THAT THE RESEARCHERS IDENTIFIED ARE ESSENTIALLY THE NIGHT-SHIFT-WORKER GENES--THE GROUP OF SWITCHES THAT TURNS ALL THIS ACTION ON AND OFF; STILL ELUDING SCIENTISTS IS IDENTIFICATION OF THE MASTER CONTROLLER--A PROTEIN REGULATOR THAT RUNS THE SHOW. FINDING THAT COULD BE THE KEY TO HELPING GROWERS REGULATE CROP GROWTH, FOR HIGHER YIELDS, IN THE FUTURE. SO, HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? WITH HORMONAL WELLS AND CIRCADIAN SWELLS; MOSTLY AT NIGHT, WITH SENSORS OF LIGHT; AND SOME VERY COMPLEX GENETIC CODING, INTRICATE PHOTOSYNTHESIS, AND VARIOUS RESPONSES TO EXTERNAL STIMULI--GOVERNED BY CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
