植物一濕就“恐慌”

植物一濕就“恐慌”

Plants go into a state of all-consuming “panic” when it rains, according to surprised scientists.

據(jù)驚訝的科學(xué)家說，植物在下雨時會進入一種極度“恐慌”的狀態(tài)。

This response is so unusual because plants obviously need water to live.

這種反應(yīng)很不尋常，因為植物顯然需要水才能生存。

The researchers think that the ‘panic’ response is due to the fact moisture creates the number one way for diseases to spread in vegetation.

研究人員認為，這種“恐慌”反應(yīng)是由于水分造成了疾病在植被中傳播的頭號途徑。

Biochemist Harvey Millar from The University of Western Australia explained: “When a raindrop splashes across a leaf, tiny droplets of water ricochet in all directions.

來自西澳大利亞大學(xué)的生物化學(xué)家哈維·米勒解釋說：“當雨滴濺落在樹葉上時，微小的水滴會向四面八方飛濺。”

“These droplets can contain bacteria, viruses, or fungal spores.

這些液滴可能含有細菌、病毒或真菌孢子。

“A single droplet can spread these up to 10 meters (32-feet) to surrounding plants.”

“一個小水滴就能把這些細菌傳播到周圍10米(32英尺)遠的地方。”

The longer a leaf is wet, the greater the chance that a disease can take hold.

葉子濕得越久，疾病發(fā)生的幾率就越大。

So this is why the researchers think plants react to rain like humans would react to someone sneezing on them.

所以這就是為什么研究人員認為，植物對雨水的反應(yīng)就像人類對打噴嚏的人的反應(yīng)一樣。

They conducted an experiment in which they mimicked rain with a spray bottle and noticed rapid microscopic reactions from the plants that are invisible to the human eye.

他們進行了一項實驗，用噴霧瓶模擬雨水，并注意到人眼看不見的植物的快速微觀反應(yīng)。

After the first 10 minutes of fake raining, over 700 genes in the plants were said to respond in a panic-like manner and most of them continued to do so for around 15 minutes.

在前10分鐘的假降雨之后，據(jù)說植物中的700多個基因以恐慌的方式反應(yīng)，其中大多數(shù)基因持續(xù)反應(yīng)了15分鐘左右。

In this time chemical reactions like how the plant creates proteins and its hormone balance were affected.

在這個時候，化學(xué)反應(yīng)，如植物如何產(chǎn)生蛋白質(zhì)和它的激素平衡被影響。

A single touch of water-activated an immediate response from plants.

只要一接觸水，植物就會立即做出反應(yīng)。

The reactions created warning signals that traveled from leaf to leaf and resulted in the plant undertaking a range of protective measures.

這些反應(yīng)產(chǎn)生了警告信號，從一片葉子傳到另一片葉子，導(dǎo)致植物采取了一系列保護措施。

Plants that were repeatedly watered eventually suffered from stunted growth and delayed flowering.

反復(fù)澆水的植物最終會生長遲緩，開花延遲。

Interestingly, the plants were also found to be communicating their ‘fears’ with nearby vegetation.

有趣的是，這些植物還被發(fā)現(xiàn)與附近的植物交流他們的“恐懼”。

They did this by secreting airborne chemicals that can be picked up by other plants and inform them what’s going on and how they’re coping.

他們通過分泌空氣中的化學(xué)物質(zhì)來做到這一點，這些化學(xué)物質(zhì)可以被其他植物吸收，并告訴他們發(fā)生了什么以及他們是如何應(yīng)對的。

Millar said: “If a plant’s neighbors have their defense mechanisms turned on, they are less likely to spread disease so it’s in their best interest for plants to spread the warning to nearby plants.”

米勒說：“如果一個植物的鄰居打開了他們的防御機制，他們就不太可能傳播疾病，所以植物向附近的植物傳播警告對他們最有利。”

This study has been published in the journal PNAS.

這項研究發(fā)表在《美國國家科學(xué)院院刊》上。