Researchers discovered a totally new type of molecular plant communication that allows them to ensure an "extraordinary" amount of genetic information.
The findings reveal a new area of science that looks at how plants communicate with one another, Virginia Tech reported. The research could help researchers gain new insight into how to fight parasitic weeds that kill of crops in some of the most impoverished parts of the world.
"The discovery of this novel form of inter-organism communication shows that this is happening a lot more than any one has previously realized," said Jim Westwood, a professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Now that we have found that they are sharing all this information, the next question is, 'What exactly are they telling each other?'."
The research team looked at the relationship between a parasitic plant, dodder, and two host plants, Arabidopsis and tomatoes. Dodder uses an appendage called a haustoriumto penetrate nearby plants and suck out their moisture. The researcher found during this parasitic interaction there is a transport of RNA between the two plants.
In the past researchers though mRNA was to fragile or short-lived to be transferred, but Westwood found during this parasitic relationship "thousands upon thousands" of them are exchanged between both plants.
"Parasitic plants such as witchweed and broomrape are serious problems for legumes and other crops that help feed some of the poorest regions in Africa and elsewhere," said Julie Scholes, a professor at the University of Sheffield. "In addition to shedding new light on host-parasite communication, Westwood's findings have exciting implications for the design of novel control strategies based on disrupting the mRNA information that the parasite uses to reprogram the host."
In the future the researchers hope to determine if other organisms such as bacteria and fungi communicate in the same way.
The findings were published on Aug. 15 in the journal Science.
