Plant Gene Discovered That Helps in Fighting the Stress
Scientists at the ‘University of Saskatchewan’ spotted a gene that which the plants in fighting against the stress. This is altogether a new discovery which could open an entirely new world of thought. It could lead to the development of those agricultural and forestry plants which could depict more tolerance towards the environmental strains like the ultraviolet light and other harmful radiations which affect the plant’s health.
This new revolutionary study conducted by a microbiologist Wei Xiao and a biochemist Hong Wang. Findings of this research study have been published in the January issue of the plant journal “The Plant Cell”.
“Arabidopsis”, a customary research model plant, closely linked to canola and already carried the four genes held of playing a role in the plant’s tolerant nature to take the environmental pressures. The researchers observed that the plants in which one of the four genes had turned off gave birth to the seedlings which showed slow growth and also died when they were exposed to a stressor which could easily damage the DNA of the plants.
The researchers are now moving towards finding out the role these plant genes could supposedly play in fighting the infections. This has been base on the fact that the similar genes in human beings and animals are found to play a protective role against both the viral and bacterial infections. These genes could be put to further use in improvising on the generic stability of the plants and more stress resistant.
The researchers are also planning to determine whether turning on or off any of the other three genes affects the plant’s resistance to environmental stresses, including viral and bacterial infections.
The research used the plant model instead of the cultured mammalian cells which was used by Xiao during the previous research to study cancer and immunity however owing to the embryos’ death when the genes were turned off; they preferred to use the plant model.
During the previous research work, Xiao discovered the “Beauty and Beast” genes which controlled the development of cancer and also a gene in baker’s yeast which were damaging to the cells in human body making them more susceptible to DNA-damaging agents.
The plant genes under the recent study by Xiao and Wang bind successfully with a protein which strengthens the immune response and also have been found playing an important role in human diseases like Parkinson’s and breast cancer.
It is for the first time that such a study has been conducted to demonstrate a group of genes at the whole organism level, instead of just at the cellular level. “This could have applications down the road for human and animal medicine in fighting cancer and infections,” said Xiao, noting that plant, animal and human studies are increasingly converging around gene-based research.
This study paves a new way to develop screening tests for humans and animals which could detect a cancer-causing imbalance, allowing earlier treatment and prevention.
