Yeray Lara Martin
ENG 93
Subject: Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts like to Live, Too

It’s an unusual situation, where insects can overcome those defenses. At the smallest nip to its leaves, specialized cells on the plant’s surface release chemicals to irritate the predator or sticky goo to entrap it.

Genes in the plant’s DNA are activated to wage system wide chemical warfare, the plants version of an immune response.

Dr. De Moraes and her colleagues did labeling experiments to clock a plant’s systemic response time and found that, in less than 20 minute from the moment the caterpillar had begun feeding on its leaves, the plant had plucked carbon from the air and forged defensive compound from scratch.

Some of the compounds that plants generate in response to insect mastication-their feedback, you might say- are volatile chemicals that serve as cries for help.

“ Some of these cues, some of these volatiles that are released when a focal plant is damaged, “ said Richard Karban of the University of California, Davis, “ Cause other plants of the sames specias, or even of another species, to likewise become more resistant to herbivores. “ Yes, it’s best to nip trouble in the bud.

Spying the anchored bounty, the female wasps in turn inject their eggs inside, the gestating wasps feed on the gestating butterflies, and the plant’s problem is solved.

“ Even if you have quite a bit of knowledge about plants,” Dr. De Moraes said, “It’s still surprising to see how sophisticated they can be.” It’s a small daily tragedy that we animals must kill to stay alive.