Endogenous factors involved in the regulation of movement and "memory" in plants

Abstract

The bioorganic basis of plant movement in two plant systems is described in this article: the circadian rhythmic leaf movement known as nyctinasty and trap movement in the Venus flytrap. The bioactive substances responsible for plant movement, the chemical mechanism of the rhythm, and studies on the key protein controlling nyctinasty are presented.The nyctinastic leaf movement is induced by a pair of leaf-movement factors, and one of each pair is a glucoside. There are two key proteins that are involved in the control of nyctinasty. One is β-glucosidase: a biological clock regulates the activity of β-glucosidase, which deactivates the glucoside-type leaf-movement factor, controlling the balance in the concentrations of the leaf-closing and -opening factors. The other is the specific receptor for each leaf-movement factor: the genuine target cell for each leaf-movement factor is confirmed to be a motor cell from leaflet pulvini, and the specific receptors that regulate the turgor of motor cells are localized in the membrane fraction.The article also discusses the isolation of the "memory" substance from the Venus flytrap and presents a mechanism for this action.

The distinctive capacities of plants: re‐thinking difference via invasive species

“…The rapid closing of leaves (or trap) occurs when at least two sensor hairs respond to stimulus and chemicals are released, signalling specified leaves to close (Ueda et al . ). Debates about chemical signalling challenge our ideas about passivity, by suggesting that plants perceive, process and react to environmental information.…”

Plant electrical memory

“…Depending on the duration of memory retention, there are three types of memory in plants: sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory. A few examples of studies involving plant memory are: transgeneration memory of stress, 1,6,10 immunological memory of tobacco plants 22 and mountain birches, 18 storage and recall functions in seedlings, 9 chromatin remodelling in plant development, 4,19 vernalization and epigenetic memory of winter, 12,13 induced resistance and susceptibility to herbivory, 2 memory response in ABA-entrained plants, 6 memory of stimulus, 16,17 and systematic acquired resistance in plants exposed to a pathogen. 22 Cellular memory is an example of long term memory and is a long-term maintenance of a particular pattern of gene expression.…”

Finding and defining the natural automata acting in living plants: Toward the synthetic biology for robotics and informatics in vivo

“…Each of five to seven leaves on this plant has two parts, the upper and the lower leaves, which coordinately capture the insects. The trapping action by Venus flytrap has three unique features attracting experts not only in biology but also in chemistry 15 and physics, 16 namely, (1) it has one of the fastest movements in the plant kingdom, (2) it exhibits a “decision-making intelligence” to determine, from a semi-closed state, whether to proceed to be completely closed or fully open, and (3) the Venus flytrap has a “memory” of touch that two consecutive mechanical stimuli within about 30 sec are usually necessary to trigger the trap closing. As the sensory organs, three sensitive trigger hairs are protruding from the upper leaf epidermis of the Venus flytrap, adjacent to the red anthocyanin pigment that attracts the insects.…”