To Protect Themselves From Microbes, Plants Quickly Shed Their Flowers

The yields of flowers are negatively impacted by microbes growing on them. According to a recent study that combined field research with plant microbiome analysis, this is the reason why plants quickly shed their flowers.

In order to protect themselves from harmful microbes, plants allow their flowers to fade quickly, according to a recent study led by researchers at Kyoto University.

The researchers found that microbes on flowers can have a detrimental effect on fruit yields through field experiments and plant microbiome analyses. Plants quickly shed their flowers as a defense mechanism before the number of microbes rises.

Flower's defense mechanism

(Photo : KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

In order to protect themselves from harmful microbes, plants allow their flowers to fade quickly, according to a recent study led by researchers at Kyoto University, as per Phys.org.

In terms of science, a plant's flowers are its reproductive system. However, unlike mammals, perennial plants create those from scratch each season and only keep them for as long as they are required.

While some earlier studies have already examined the variation in flower life spans among species, they focused primarily on the trade-off between the benefit that plants would derive from keeping their reproductive organs and the energy they would expend on producing and maintaining their flowers.

The research team observed that the plant produced noticeably fewer fruits despite the absence of any disease-related symptoms on the flowers or fruits.

The microbiomes of the plants did, however, reveal the presence of several bacterial groups that were evolving over time. These bacteria are classified as residents of the plant because they can be discovered on the flower buds of flowers that have not been treated.

Most of the research on flower characteristics to date has focused on how they interact with pollinators. Recent research has prompted the question of whether we have failed to consider the contributions of microbes in our investigations of floral traits.

For instance, flower volatiles, which is frequently thought of as primary pollinator attractant, have the ability to suppress harmful microbes.

Lifespan of flowers

The energy trade-off that plants make between creating and sustaining their flowers has been studied by researchers. It would seem that plants will indeed benefit from keeping their flowers around longer since they act as a reproductive structure, as per earth.

The Kyoto team had previously investigated the mystery of why plants spend their energy on producing delicate flowers which wither quickly rather than spending a little more energy on producing flowers that are more resilient.

It's interesting to note that temperature has a negative relationship with flower longevity; the hotter the surroundings in which they bloom, the shorter the time a plant can hold onto them. According to study co-author Shoko Sakai, the phenomenon has long been recognized.

Then, at some point, he made the assumption that the agent responsible for reducing a flower's lifespan must be antagonistic microbes, including such bacteria and fungi that appear on flowers after the flower bud opens. I didn't think it was a coincidence that microbes multiply more quickly in hotter environments, Sakai stated.

To find out what microbial communities are present on flowers that last longer, the team performed field tests. The specialists spread microbes from old wild ginger flowers to other wild ginger plants with fresh, newly opened flowers.

Regardless of the fact, that there were no obvious symptoms of infection or disease, the experimental plants eventually produced fewer fruits.

The researchers discovered several bacterial groups that were evolving over time when they examined the microbiomes of the plants.