This post was originally published March 29, 2018.
If you want to see the scientific article, you can find it at this link here.
Here’s a breakdown of what the paper is about, without all the scientific jargon:
- What did we discover? A new molecule in corn!
We found a new group of molecules in corn plants. We named them the dolabralexins. These molecules are interesting, because some of them have never been seen in nature before. We haven’t found any other living thing that makes them (yet)!
- How did we discover that? We found out what some corn genes do!
We took some genes from corn and put them into E. coli. Luckily, this E. coli won’t make you sick. We let the E. coli grow and produce protein from the genes we put in, and then we see what those proteins do. Turns out these proteins make our new molecules, the dolabralexins! We then searched in corn plants and found that these molecules are in plant roots.
- What do these new molecules do? They help the corn plants when they are sick!
These new molecules, the dolabralexins, are made in corn when the corn is sick – these are medicines the plant is making for itself. Like us, corn can get disease from bacteria and fungi. Also like us, corn needs water, and these molecules help when there is drought. The corn plants make more of these molecules when they are sick, and if they can’t make the molecules, they get more sick.
- Why does this discovery matter? This helps us make better plants!
If we can understand how plants make their own medicines, we can breed or engineer both corn and other plant species to be healthier. If a plant can produce its own defensive medicines, we don’t need to add as many herbicides and pesticides.
