scholarly journals The foundations of plant intelligence

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 20160098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Trewavas
Keyword(s):  
Single Cells ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Distributed Resources ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Plant Intelligence ◽  
Sense And Respond ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Plant Behaviour

Intelligence is defined for wild plants and its role in fitness identified. Intelligent behaviour exhibited by single cells and systems similarity between the interactome and connectome indicates neural systems are not necessary for intelligent capabilities. Plants sense and respond to many environmental signals that are assessed to competitively optimize acquisition of patchily distributed resources. Situations of choice engender motivational states in goal-directed plant behaviour; consequent intelligent decisions enable efficient gain of energy over expenditure. Comparison of swarm intelligence and plant behaviour indicates the origins of plant intelligence lie in complex communication and is exemplified by cambial control of branch function. Error correction in behaviours indicates both awareness and intention as does the ability to count to five. Volatile organic compounds are used as signals in numerous plant interactions. Being complex in composition and often species and individual specific, they may represent the plant language and account for self and alien recognition between individual plants. Game theory has been used to understand competitive and cooperative interactions between plants and microbes. Some unexpected cooperative behaviour between individuals and potential aliens has emerged. Behaviour profiting from experience, another simple definition of intelligence, requires both learning and memory and is indicated in the priming of herbivory, disease and abiotic stresses.

scholarly journals Combinatorial Control of Gene Expression

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumya Bhattacharjee ◽  
Kaushik Renganaath ◽  
Rajesh Mehrotra ◽  
Sandhya Mehrotra
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Short Description ◽  
Controlling Factors ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Control Of Gene Expression ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Combinatorial Control ◽  
Sense And Respond ◽  
Eukaryotic Organisms

The complexity and diversity of eukaryotic organisms are a feat of nature’s engineering. Pulling the strings of such an intricate machinery requires an even more masterful and crafty approach. Only the number and type of responses that they generate exceed the staggering proportions of environmental signals perceived and processed by eukaryotes. Hence, at first glance, the cell’s sparse stockpile of controlling factors does not seem remotely adequate to carry out this response. The question as to how eukaryotes sense and respond to environmental cues has no single answer. It is an amalgamation, an interplay between several processes, pathways, and factors—a combinatorial control. A short description of some of the most important elements that operate this entire conglomerate is given in this paper.

scholarly journals Two tonoplast MATE proteins function as turgor-regulating chloride channels inArabidopsis

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (10) ◽  
pp. E2036-E2045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiwen Zhang ◽  
Fu-Geng Zhao ◽  
Ren-Jie Tang ◽  
Yuexuan Yu ◽  
Jiali Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chloride Channels ◽  
Ectopic Expression ◽  
Root Hairs ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Patch Clamp Recording ◽  
Mesophyll Cells ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Turgor Regulation ◽  
Cell Turgor ◽  
Definition Of

The central vacuole in a plant cell occupies the majority of the cellular volume and plays a key role in turgor regulation. The vacuolar membrane (tonoplast) contains a large number of transporters that mediate fluxes of solutes and water, thereby adjusting cell turgor in response to developmental and environmental signals. We report that two tonoplast Detoxification efflux carrier (DTX)/Multidrug and Toxic Compound Extrusion (MATE) transporters, DTX33 and DTX35, function as chloride channels essential for turgor regulation inArabidopsis. Ectopic expression of each transporter inNicotiana benthamianamesophyll cells elicited a large voltage-dependent inward chloride current across the tonoplast, showing that DTX33 and DTX35 each constitute a functional channel. Both channels are highly expressed inArabidopsistissues, including root hairs and guard cells that experience rapid turgor changes during root-hair elongation and stomatal movements. Disruption of these two genes, either in single or double mutants, resulted in shorter root hairs and smaller stomatal aperture, with double mutants showing more severe defects, suggesting that these two channels function additively to facilitate anion influx into the vacuole during cell expansion. In addition,dtx35single mutant showed lower fertility as a result of a defect in pollen-tube growth. Indeed, patch-clamp recording of isolated vacuoles indicated that the inward chloride channel activity across the tonoplast was impaired in the double mutant. Because MATE proteins are widely known transporters of organic compounds, finding MATE members as chloride channels expands the functional definition of this large family of transporters.

Template-Free Fabrication of Aligned Nanoarray for Quantifying the Nanosurface-Single Cells Interaction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biran Wang ◽  
Liming Wang ◽  
Shiren Wang
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Nanowire Arrays ◽  
Template Free ◽  
Sense And Respond ◽  
Single Living Cells ◽  
Single Living

In this paper, we for the first-time synthesized vertically aligned polyaniline (PANI) nanowire arrays on flat-end AFM tips via template-free solution methods. 4-Aminothiophenol was used for tailoring the nucleation size, chain propagation and orientation of the PANI nanowires. The microscopy characterization indicated that diameter was centered at a mean of 33.7 nm with a standard deviation of 6.5 nm, and length was centered at a mean of 50.3 nm with a standard deviation of 7.6 nm. PANI nanowire arrays are non-toxic, low-cost, and tunable, and thus PANI nanowire-grown tips could perfectly simulate different nanosurfaces. Via the force spectroscopy, we demonstrate the feasibility in quantifying the nanostructure-cell interactions at the single cell level in real time with high reliability and accuracy. This work will enable a new tool in precisely quantifying the interactions of single living cells and nanosurface, and thus opens a new door to understand how single living cells sense and respond to the specific nanostructures.

scholarly journals Stingless bee floral visitation in the global tropics and subtropics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Garcia Bulle Bueno ◽  
Liam Kendall ◽  
Denise Araujo Alves ◽  
Manuel Lequerica Tamara ◽  
Tim Heard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stingless Bees ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Ornamental Plants ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Stingless Bee ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Social Bees ◽  
Floral Visitation ◽  
Plant Families

AbstractBees play a key role in maintaining healthy terrestrial ecosystems by pollinating plants. Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are a diverse clade of social bees (>500 species) with a pantropical distribution spanning South and Central America, Africa, India and Austral-Asia. They are garnering increasing attention as commercially-beneficial pollinators of some crops, yet their contribution to the pollination of native plants in the tropics and subtropics remains poorly understood. Here we conduct for the first time a global review of the plants visited by stingless bees. We compile a database of reported associations (flower visits) between stingless bees and plants, from studies that have made either direct observations of foraging bees or analysed the pollen stored in nests. Worldwide, we find stingless bees have been reported to visit the flowers of plants from at least 215 different families and 1434 genera, with frequently reported interactions for many of the tropic’s most species-diverse plant families including Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Rubiaceae, Poaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myrtaceae, Malvaceae, Arecaceae, Solanaceae, and Anacardiaceae. The stingless bee fauna of each of three major biogeographic regions (Neotropical, Afrotropical and Indo-Malayan-Australasian) were frequent visitors of many of the same plant families, however we detected differences in the proportional use of plant families by the stingless bees of the Indo-Malayan-Australasian and Neotropical regions, likely reflecting differences in the available flora of those regions. Stingless bees in all regions visit a range of exotic species in their preferred plant families (crops, ornamental plants and weeds), in addition to native plants. Although most reports of floral visitation on wild plants do not confirm effective pollen transfer, it is likely that stingless bees make at least some contribution to pollination for the majority of plants they visit. In all, our database supports the view that stingless bees play an important role in the ecosystems of the global tropics and subtropics as pollinators of an exceptionally large and diverse number of plants. This database also highlights important gaps in our knowledge of stingless bee resource use and should benefit future efforts to understand stingless bee-plant interactions.

scholarly journals Fluctuating fitness shapes the clone-size distribution of immune repertoires

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Desponds ◽  
Thierry Mora ◽  
Aleksandra M. Walczak
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Adaptive Immune System ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Power Law Distribution ◽  
Clone Size ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Somatic Evolution ◽  
Effective Models

The adaptive immune system relies on the diversity of receptors expressed on the surface of B- and T cells to protect the organism from a vast amount of pathogenic threats. The proliferation and degradation dynamics of different cell types (B cells, T cells, naive, memory) is governed by a variety of antigenic and environmental signals, yet the observed clone sizes follow a universal power-law distribution. Guided by this reproducibility we propose effective models of somatic evolution where cell fate depends on an effective fitness. This fitness is determined by growth factors acting either on clones of cells with the same receptor responding to specific antigens, or directly on single cells with no regard for clones. We identify fluctuations in the fitness acting specifically on clones as the essential ingredient leading to the observed distributions. Combining our models with experiments, we characterize the scale of fluctuations in antigenic environments and we provide tools to identify the relevant growth signals in different tissues and organisms. Our results generalize to any evolving population in a fluctuating environment.

Issues and nonissues in the origins of language

1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy K. Wilkins ◽  
Jennie Wakefield
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis response clarifies the nature of reappropriation and the definition of language. It explicates the relationship between neural systems and language and between homology and evolutionary gradualism. Through a review of ape capacities in the realms of language and tool use, it distinguishes human language acquisition from nonhuman learning. Finally, it suggests the appropriate sorts of evidence on which to base further evolutionary arguments relevant to the origins of language.

scholarly journals Single cells can sense their position in a morphogen gradient

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 5309-5317 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.B. Gurdon ◽  
H. Standley ◽  
S. Dyson ◽  
K. Butler ◽  
T. Langon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
In Situ Hybridization ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Morphogen Gradient ◽  
Rnase Protection ◽  
Lateral Contact ◽  
Related Response ◽  
Sense And Respond ◽  
Alternative Idea

Xenopus blastula cells show a morphogen-like response to activin by expressing different genes according to the concentration of activin to which they are exposed. To understand how cells recognize their position in a concentration gradient, it is essential to know whether each cell responds individually to activin concentration. An alternative idea, proposed by previous work, is that cells need to interact with their neighbours to generate a concentration-related response. To distinguish between these ideas, we have cultured blastula cells under conditions which provide different degrees of contact with other cells, allowing nil to maximum communication with their neighbours. The cultures include cells attached to fibronectin and cells resting unattached on an agarose base. The cultures also include cells that have no contact with any cell except their clonal progeny, cells that have lateral contact to neighbouring cells, and cells that are completely enveloped by other cells in a reaggregate. We have used RNase protection and in situ hybridization to assay the expression of the activin-responsive Xenopus genes Xbra, Xgsc, Xeomes, Xapod, Xchordin, Mix1, Xlim1 and Cerberus. We find no difference in gene expression between cells attached to fibronectin and those unattached on agarose. Most importantly, we find that cells respond to activin in a concentration-related way irrespective of their degree of contact with other cells. Therefore interaction among cells is not required for the interpretation of morphogen concentration, at least in the case of the early genes studied here. We conclude that isolated blastula cells can sense and respond individually to activin by expressing genes in a concentration-dependent way.

scholarly journals Organic crops as an agrarian legal category

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafurova Olena ◽  
◽  
Psuturi Beka ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Production Plant ◽  
Agricultural Crop ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Organic Crop Production ◽  
Definition Of

The article is devoted to the analysis of legislation, also legal doctrine in the sphere of the organic crop production. The authors dwell on the analysis of the provisions of Ukraian Laws of September 3, 2013 «On production and circulation of organic agricultural products and raw materials» and July 10, 2018 «On basic principles and requirements for organic production, circulation and labeling of organic products».They indicate positive and negative characteristics of these Laws and note that the legislation in thein the sphere of organic production of agricultural crop products is in the process of formation and needs further improvement, including the requirements of EU legislation. Given the fact that in the scientific literature organic crop production is considered as an integral part of organic production, without disclosing its special features, special attention is paid to the definition of the features of the first type of activity.An analysis of Ukrainian legislation allows the authors to conclude that the concept of organic crop production includes not only crop production as a traditional branch of agricultural production, but also the procurement of such organic objects of the plant world as wild plants, algae and mushrooms. This indicates about impossibility of reducing this activity exclusively to organic farming. Keywords: organic production, organic crop production, plant growing, food security, agriculture, agricultural products, food quality

A new species of Brevipalpus (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) from the Azores Islands, with remarks on the B. cuneatus species group

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2184-2208
Author(s):  
Jorge Laerson Dos Santos Alves ◽  
Francisco Ferragut ◽  
Renata Santos Mendonça ◽  
Aline Daniele Tassi ◽  
Denise Navia
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Electron And Light Microscopy ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
A New Species

Brevipalpus contains about 290 species, some of which are considered of economic importance. In spite of their agricultural importance, the species diversity is scarcely known in several regions around the world, notably on wild plants. In this work a new species collected on an endemic ivy of the Azores Archipelago, Hedera azorica Carrière (Araliaceae), is described based on an integrative approach using morphological traits of the adults, obtained through electron and light microscopy, and molecular characters based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted in order to produce reliable phylogenetic placement of the new species, which is tentatively classified in the B. portalis species group. Morphological similarities between the new species and B. cuneatus Canestrini and Fanzago point out to some inconsistencies in the current morphological classification of Brevipalpus species, especially in the definition of the B. cuneatus group, herein discussed.

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