Tomato plants’ gloopy defences

Scientists have discovered that the hairy stems on tomato plants deter insect pests by shooting out a gloopy substance. Jared Popowski from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands made this discovery by mistake when he was studying a plant, capturing on camera the moment it happened. The special hairs that release the goo are called glandular trichomes, and around 30% of land plants have them. To study how trichomes are triggered, Popowski released western flower thrips (a small insect that eats tomato plants) and watched. He saw the insects crawl up the plant in search of fruit and leaves to feed on, and as they touched the tiny hairs on the stalks, it triggered them to release tiny droplets of liquid in less than one thousandth of a second.…

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The Week Junior (UK) (Digital) - 1 Issue, 476

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