Plants and Bac

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121031214140.htm
(University of Milan, Italy)

In the article I read a not-so-new discovery was made. Scientists have known for  a while about the way different organisms work together in their environments. In many cases these symbiotic relationships are necessary for life for the individuals. However, not until recently was this idea used with plants in drought conditions being supported by bacteria. In environments with little water availability, some plants have formed alliances with soil microbes that help promote plant growth even in these conditions. As we have been learning about how plants adapt to environmental difficulties this is a long the same lines. Although this development is not specifically a phsyical or physiological adaptation of the plants, it is an adaptation of communication between the bacteria and plant roots.

Reading on, the scientists researching this actually discovered that it is an endosymbiotic relationship. In areas of drought stress, these bacterial communities become 40% more productive at increasing plant photosynthesis and biomass production. Also it raises the level of bacteria in the area. So as drought occurs, the bacteria grow and become more effective and thus the plants are able to continue to live with little to no water.

These findings lead scientists at the University to say that plants can't be considered single organisms when fully-functional in these conditions. Instead the are referred to as "meta-organisms" of plants and microbiome. This discovery can lead to a higher efficiency in the farm industry in certain regions. Those farmers that suffer damage to their crops from drought would be able to insert these microbes into the soil to increase productivity in hard times.

Personally, I found this article to be interesting because it is a perfect example of symbiotic and endosymbiotic relationships that we have always heard about in biology. And this one especially can be put forth for further developments!

Telomeres and Heart Disease

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130310164232.htm

    Studies at the Intermountain Medical Center have shown that the longer a heart disease patient’s telomeres (the strands of DNA found on the ends of chromosomes) the greater chance they have of surviving. In the past this telomere length has been used as a measure of age but now research shows it may also predict life expectancy.

    But why though? Because telomeres protect chromosomes from damage as people age, the length shortens and thus it is a good marker for age-related diseases (i.e. heart disease, cancer) as well as damages that accelerate biological aging. Since this telomere shortening signals the end of life for a cell, doctors can see when patients are at higher risk for these diseases. So it also shows their probability for survival says Dr. Carlquist. Researchers at Intermountain believe this can measure the rate of change over time which is more effective than looking at the telomeres at just a moment in time.

    Doctors could already use cholesterol tests and blood pressure to see how heart care treatment is working but in the future they can use this tactic to measure the effectiveness which provides a much deep view.

    From what we have learned in class about the purpose of telomeres in cells at determining age of cell and life expectancy, I can see this being an effective method in the future. As I read the article though I couldn’t help thinking that although this is an effective method, is it really that necessary of a discovery? Yes it probably will lead to greater discoveries with regard to heart disease patients and what not but the scientists in the article said they could already determine life expectancy with other tests. Maybe the article just didn’t explain it enough for me to see that this is completely necessary. Either way I think it will lead to positive future solutions for such diseases.