Researchers at Michigan State University, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, have made an exciting discovery about tomato plants. They found that tomato plants can produce acylsugars, a type of sugar, through two different pathways. It was once thought that acylsugars were produced only in special hair-like structures on tomato plant leaves.
Researchers used gene knockout techniques to study acylsugar production in tomato plants. They turned off specific genes, like flipping a light switch, to investigate. They found that similar genes control acylsugar production in both leaves and roots. One set of genes regulates the leaves, and another set controls the roots.
Importance of Acylsugars
Acylsugars in leaves serve as a natural defense against pests. Researchers are now exploring the role of these sugars in tomato roots. They are investigating if acylsugars can protect roots from harmful organisms. Alternatively, they might attract beneficial organisms.
Pankaj Jaiswal is a program director at NSF. He explains the importance of understanding the interaction between genes and metabolites. They work together to develop defense mechanisms in plants. This knowledge can help use these genes in the same and other plants to make natural pesticides. Jaiswal’s NSF program funded this research.
This new knowledge explains how tomato plants defend themselves. It also creates chances to explore using these genes to make natural pesticides. This could benefit agriculture and decrease our use of chemical pesticides.
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Reference
https://new.nsf.gov/news/discovery-tomato-could-lead-natural-pesticides
