How Do Plants Act Fast to Fight off Infections?
Published:02 Nov.2021 Source:Carnegie Institution for Science
New work led by Carnegie's Kangmei Zhaoand Sue Rhee reveals a new mechanism by which plants are able to rapidly activate defenses against bacterial infections. This understanding could inspire efforts to improve crop yields and combat global hunger.
"Understanding how plants respond to stressful environments is critical for developing strategies to protect important food and biofuel crops from a changing climate," Rhee explained. Published in eLife, new work from Zhao and Rhee, along with Carnegie's Benjamin Jinand Stanford University's Deze Kong and Christina Smolke, investigated how production of a plant defense compound called camalexin is activated at the genetic level.