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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Bacterial Bouncers"
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BACTERIAL BOUNCERS... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IF YOU'RE A PLANT, IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE: YOU MAY NOT GO LOOKING FOR TROUBLE--BUT BACTERIA, VIRUSES, AND OTHER MICRO-ORGANISMS ARE LOOKING FOR YOU. RESEARCHERS FROM DENMARK, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS, AND U-C-BERKELEY HAVE MADE A NEW DISCOVERY THAT BRINGS US CLOSER TO UNDERSTANDING HOW A PLANT'S IMMUNE-SYSTEM WORKS--AND PERHAPS HOW TO BETTER PROTECT PLANTS FROM DISEASE. IN PLANT-SECURITY, YOU'VE BASICALLY GOT TWO LINES OF DEFENSE: THE PROTEINS OUTSIDE THE PLANT'S CELL-WALLS THAT SIZE UP INTRUDERS, AND THE OTHERS WHO SPOT INVADING MICROBES FROM WITHIN THE CELL-WALLS. UP TO NOW, SCIENTISTS WERE ONLY ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE PROTEIN THAT REGULATED THESE TWO BRANCHES OF THE PLANT'S IMMUNE-SYSTEM. THE NEW RESEARCH, FOR THE FIRST TIME, IDENTIFIED THE SPECIFIC PROTEINS THAT ARE THE GATE-KEEPERS: THE ACTUAL PROTEINS THAT CONTROL THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF TINY HOLES IN LEAVES--CALLED "STOMATA"--TO LET WATER OR GASES IN, OR KEEP INVADING BACTERIA OUT. THE STUDY INVOLVED A FLOWERING PLANT NAMED "ARABIDOPSIS"--A RELATIVE OF CABBAGE- AND MUSTARD-PLANTS. IT COULD HELP LEAD TO BETTER PROTECTION OF CROPS AND OTHER PLANTS. 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.
