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Scientists at Emory University have made an interesting discovery: although plants do not have brains, their cells are able to remember when they experienced a drought. According to EU’s researchers, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Plant Genome Research program, understanding this phenomenon in California can help the rest of the world along the way.
“Plants can actually remember when they’ve been exposed to drought,” explains Roger Deal, one of the researchers. “If you restrict the amount of water an alfalfa plant receives, it’s going to begin to wilt. Then, if you water it and bring it back to life, it’s basically more resistant to drought. We’re trying to learn the basis of this remembrance. Plants don’t have a brain, but somehow their cells remember when they’ve been exposed to drought so they can be ready when it happens again.”
One section of the researchers are observing strains of rice, while another section is focused two types of tomatoes, one domestic and one wild.
Alfalfa, however, is an important crop to study because it is a vital crop for livestock around the world. What the researchers learn from the alfalfa crop can determine what kind of crops we must grow.
According to Deal, when and where crops are grown may have to change, along with humans’ eating habits, as a means of dealing with severe droughts.
