Wait what?! Plants that light up could change how plant pathogens are detected! Green Fluorescent Proteins: The green-fluorescent protein of the jellyfish (Aequorea victoria) has recently been used as a signal detection mechanism in a broad range of different living cells and organisms. It can measure dynamic responses of signaling pathways and disease infection in a host plant and should be suitable for many other applications in genetically modified living cells and tissues of higher plants. The green fluorescent protein is increasingly used in plant biology from the cellular to the whole-plant level. At the organ level and up, many exciting applications are rapidly emerging. The development of brighter GFP mutants with more robust folding properties has enabled better macroscopic visualization of GFP in whole leaves and plants. GFP is also a powerful tool to monitor detection in host plants facing pathogen infection. A company by the name of Interplant is using recorded DNA to produce crop cultivars with fluorescent proteins produced in the leaves. These sensors in the leaves can be viewed with a particular technology and respond by signaling a bright glow that lets an agricultural producer know of problems and concerns facing pathogens in plant health management. Interplant is also working towards an intelligent solution that machine learns these plant signals and uses data sources to build recommendations for farmers. These proteins and technology allow farmers not to suffer widespread crop disease, reduce or eliminate spending on pesticides, and boost crop yields.

Posted by frienzedfarmer at 2022-04-28 00:45:29 UTC