From: To: Jeffrey Epstein <[email protected]> Subject: Fwd: Nervous system-like signaling in plant defense Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2018 00:18:53 +0000 Begin forwarded message: From: Tony Pan < > Date: 14, 2018 at 6:32:38 PM CDT To: < > Subject: Nervous system-like signaling in plant defense More analogies to neurotransmission appear in plants! Nervous system-like signaling in plant defense http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6407/1068 The ability to initiate a rapid defense against biotic attacks and mechanical damage is critical for all organisms. Multicellular organisms have developed mechanisms to systemically communicate the occurrence of a wound to help them escape or defend themselves from predators. Because plants are stationary and cannot escape herbivory, they must respond with chemical defenses to deter herbivores and repair damaged tissue. On page 1112 of this issue, Toyota et at (1) report long- distance calcium ion signaling in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in response to caterpillar herbivory or mechanical wounding (see the image). They uncover long-distance calcium signals that require glutamate -like receptor (GLR) channels for signal propagation. These channels am activated by extracellular glutamate, a well-known mammalian neurotransmitter and a more recently uncovered developmental signal in plants (2). In mammals, glutamate receptors am central to fast excitatory neurotransmission, which is an intriguing parallel to their role as long-distance signals in wounding and defense in plants. EFTA01023066