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I have been inspired by the contemplation of nature in the face of the current extreme drought in Catalonia to prepare this photographic report for La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos, using the reflection technique to evoke research that indicates that plants have a powerful system defensive. They are even capable of recognizing the corpses of their companions.
As noted in the international study Plant immunity: danger perception and signaling, plants are capable of recognizing pathogens or herbivores that threaten them and create a kind of protective shield.
"They employ numerous intracellular and cell surface immune receptors to perceive a variety of immunogenic signals associated with pathogen infection and subsequently activate defenses," indicates the research carried out by scientists from China and Canada. It is key that "immune signaling is enhanced by the main defense hormone, salicylic acid (SA), which reprograms the transcriptome for defense."
In this way, for example, if a herbivore bites a plant leaf, it recognizes that it is in danger through receptors present in its cells. Plant defense networks are even established against pathogens transmitted by insects.
When the plant is bitten by an herbivore, it recognizes the damage it has suffered and where it has suffered it, so that the healthy cells send signals to the rest of the plant to warn of danger. At this moment, the "systemic spread of immunity in plants" occurs, that is, the moment of resisting the attack. Among its defense mechanisms is its ability to synthesize insecticidal compounds.
