Posted on 08/28/2010 1:31:37 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
The lovely scent of cut grass is the reek of plant anguish: When attacked, plants release airborne chemical compounds. Now scientists say plants can use these compounds almost like language, notifying nearby creatures who can "rescue" them from insect attacks.
A group of German scientists studying a wild tobacco plant noticed that the compounds it released - called green leaf volatiles or GLVs - were very specific. When the plants were infested by caterpillars, the plants released a distress GLV that attracted predatory bugs who like to eat the caterpillars in question.
According to Science, where the researchers published their study today:
They found that when these plants are attacked by tobacco hornworm caterpillars, Manduca sexta, the caterpillars' saliva causes a chemical change in the GLV compounds the plants had produced. These modified compounds then attract predatory "true bugs," Geocoris, which prey on hornworm eggs and young larvae. Although more research will be needed to figure out exactly how the molecules in the caterpillar saliva cause this change in the GLVs, it's clear that the caterpillars themselves cause the change in the GLV signal, the researchers say. It may thus be possible someday to induce the same sort of change via genetic engineering, which might protect plants against pests without encouraging the resistance that pests develop in response to pesticides.
(Excerpt) Read more at io9.com ...
Another reason to feel guilty and hate life, brought to you by the left.
As C.S. Lewis once alluded, in their world, "...it's always winter. Always winter, and never Christmas."
Smoking grass OK....cutting bad.
M. Night Shyamalan: Prophet?
Well a million blades of grass are going to be screaming in pain at about 11 AM tomorrow at my house.
Oh the horror!! Stop grass torture now!!!
At least they’re polite when they complain.
Thank God I didn't have my mouth full of coffee when I read that, my new netbook would be soaked!
What IDIOTS. Who exactly is the GRASS sending a distress call out to?
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
And since humans are attracted to the smell of cut grass - can we assume we’re ‘relatives’ of the “rescue” groups?
People think I’m weird because I swear I can smell freshly cut hair.
Maybe they think I’m weird for other reasons.
Who exactly is the GRASS sending a distress call out to?
Perhaps Gaia.
I have shrub oak and every few years they get attacked by green inchworms. Then what happens is that a tiny black wasp appears and lays eggs on the trees. The tree then forms a small round ball around the eggs that the new wasps crawl out of (a few days later?) and attack the inchworms (caterpillars) ending the inchworm infestation for a couple of years.
...maybe fescue groups.
Pretty soon we'll have plant rights activists who will vandalize lawn mowers.
For God’s Sake, don’t let the Greenies find out. They’ll start up some new fringe group: PETPOOP - People for Ethically Treating the Property of Other People.
ROFLMAO
But what about the PTDS each of these blades goes through for each cutting.
LOL! Good thing I didn’t have any liquid in my mouth when I read your comment.
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