Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Wily bacteria create ‘zombie’ plants
We are seeing a lot about Zombies these days, from our
televisions to the bookstore it is certainly a part of popular culture.
Recently I read an article that used the ‘zombie card’ to describe how a
specific parasite took control over a certain species and preventing it from
reproducing (thus, turning it into a zombie, serving only the bacteria that
used it as home).
It sounds hard to believe that a parasite can actually
change the behavior of a plant, but it seemed to modify the flowers to look
more like leaves, which would attract insects, which would then transfer the
bacteria to other plants and ensure that it could be spread over and over
again. This leaf like structure stopped the plant from flowering, which is
crucial to its reproductive cycle – meaning the plant itself could not continue
to ‘spread’ so to speak.
Sounds hard to believe that you could stop a plant from
reproducing so easily, but we do it all the time. At home in the summer, we
pick the fading flowers from the plants in order to prevent them from going to
seed so that it will continue to flower all summer long. Once a plant goes to
seed, it stops producing flowers.
This article, written by Esther Landhuis is a good example
of evolution at work. Surely the bacteria doesn’t think to itself “hey, maybe I
can complicate life for that vulnerable looking plant……” it is all a part of
natural selection which goes much further than how we came from Homo Habilis.
It makes me stop and wonder just how the species we know now might evolve in four
or five generations – or less. It is
certainly scary how fast bacteria can change and adapt to a friendly
environment, especially with cold season right around the corner.
You can find the article here:
Discussion Questions:
1)
Can you think of other examples of when a
parasite host that continues to live on? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of this situation?
2)
How do you think life on earth will evolve over
the next five generations? What are some of the highlights, and some of the
drawbacks for us to this new evolution.
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