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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Family Roots"
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PLANT PARENTHOOD; SAPLING RIVALRY? THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. HUMAN SIBLINGS DON'T ALWAYS GET ALONG. BUT, IN THE PLANT WORLD, IT MAY BE A DIFFERENT STORY. RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE HAVE HONED IN ON THE WAY THAT PLANTS CAN NOT ONLY RECOGNIZE FAMILY-MEMBERS CLOSE BY--BUT ALSO SUPPORT THEM, IN THEIR BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL--IN SHORT, HOW PLANTS RECOGNIZE THEIR FAMILY, AND HAVE EACH OTHER'S BACKS. THE TEAM HAS DETERMINED THAT THE ROOT-CAUSE LIES IN THE ROOTS--MORE SPECIFICALLY, IN ROOT-SECRETIONS. THEY PLACED YOUNG SEEDLINGS IN A LIQUID MEDIA--SOME WITH SECRETIONS FROM THE PLANT'S BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SOME IN THEIR OWN, AND SOME WITH SECRETIONS FROM STRANGERS. THREE-THOUSAND PLANTS WERE CAREFULLY MONITORED, FOR SEVEN DAYS. WHEN SIBLINGS WERE GROWN NEXT TO EACH OTHER, THEY "PLAYED NICE"--AND DIDN'T SEND OUT ROOTS TO COMPETE WITH ONE ANOTHER. BUT, WHEN THROWN IN WITH STRANGERS, IT WAS "GAME ON": THE PLANTS RAPIDLY GREW MORE ROOTS, TO COMPETE FOR WATER AND NUTRIENTS. IN FACT, THEY PUT SO MUCH ENERGY INTO GROWING ROOTS THAT THEY WERE OFTEN SHORTER. THE RESEARCHERS ALSO NOTED THAT SIBLING PLANTS OFTEN ALLOW LEAVES TO TOUCH AND INTERTWINE--WHEREAS STRANGERS AVOID OTHER STRANGERS. THE STUDY ALREADY HAS IMPLICATIONS RANGING FROM AGRICULTURE TO HOME GARDENING. WHEN IT COMES TO PLANT FAMILIES, THEY'RE "ROOTING" FOR EACH OTHER. 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.
