York scientists discover how plants respond to environmental changes
Posted on 18 March 2005
Instead, they must respond biochemically to a wide variety of environmental stimuli but how they do so has not, until recently, been clear.
Research led by academics in the Department of Biology at the University of York has established how plants might respond by changing the calcium concentration in their cells when confronted by many environmental changes.
With colleagues from the Universities of Lancaster and Oxford, they have identified the gene that encodes a protein which, they believe, is responsible for the change in calcium levels and which is involved in plants' stress responses. The results of the research are published in Nature.
We have now established a potential molecular explanation for how calcium concentration changes in plant cells are generated
Professor Dale Sanders
Professor Dale Sanders, of the University of York's Department of Biology, said: "Researchers have been attempting to understand for more than two decades how plants might change their calcium levels during stress signalling. We have now established a potential molecular explanation for how calcium concentration changes in plant cells are generated and which genes are involved.
"One of the things we have shown that the protein is involved in is the regulation of the aperture of the stomata - small pores in the leaf which allow water loss and the uptake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.
"It allows us to understand the pathways plants use to translate environmental signals into biochemical responses."
The researchers believe that any commercial applications for the research are a long way off but, ultimately, it could help the development of crops which are able to withstand a wide variety of climatic conditions.
Notes to editors:
- The University of York's Department of Biology is one of the leading centres for biological teaching and research in the UK. The Department has an integrated approach to Biology, with no barriers between disciplines. It both teaches degree courses and undertakes research across the whole spectrum of modern Biology, from molecular genetics and biochemistry to ecology.