Plants in Forest Emit Aspirin Chemical to Deal with Stress

by Amy Judd | September 18, 2008 at 01:56 pm

1490 views | 31 Recommendations | 39 comments

In a new study released today, it has been found that plants respond by producing an amount of a chemical form of aspirin.

The study was conducted by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which teaches us a lot about plants' impacts on air quality and could give farmers an early warning sign when crops are failing.

"Unlike humans, who are advised to take aspirin as a fever suppressant, plants have the ability to produce their own mix of aspirin-like chemicals, triggering the formation of proteins that boost their biochemical defenses and reduce injury," says NCAR scientist Thomas Karl, who led the study. "Our measurements show that significant amounts of the chemical can be detected in the atmosphere as plants respond to drought, unseasonable temperatures, or other stresses."

For years, scientists have known that plants in a laboratory may produce methyl salicylate, which is a chemical form of acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin. But researchers had never before detected methyl salicylate in an ecosystem or verified that plants emit the chemical in significant quantities into the atmosphere.

The team of scientists reported its findings last week in Biogeosciences. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor.

An unexpected finding

Researchers had not previously thought to look for methyl salicylate in a forest, and the NCAR team found the chemical by accident. They set up specialized instruments last year in a walnut grove near Davis, California, to monitor plant emissions of certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These hydrocarbon compounds are important because they can combine with industrial emissions to affect pollution, and they can also influence local climate.

When the NCAR scientists reviewed their measurements, they found to their surprise that the emissions of VOCs included methyl salicylate. The levels of methyl salicylate emissions increased dramatically when the plants, which were already stressed by a local drought, experienced unseasonably cool nighttime temperatures followed by large daytime temperature increases. Instruments mounted on towers about 100 feet above the ground measured up to 0.025 milligrams of methyl salicylate rising from each square foot of forest per hour.

Karl and his colleagues speculate that the methyl salicylate has two functions. One of these is to stimulate plants to begin a process known as systemic acquired resistance, which is analogous to an immune response in an animal. This helps a plant to both resist and recover from disease.

This shows that plant to plant communication exists on the ecosystem level. They can effictively communicate through the atmosphere.
This could mean that farmers could start monitoring plants for early signs of disease, an insect infection or other types of stress that affect plants, and could save thousands of species as usually the only way to tell a plant is infected is when the leaves are dead or decayed and by then that is too late usually to save the plant.

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aggielap

at 01:10 on September 19th, 2008

The passion flower, also known as 'Passiflora', is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants in the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly vines, with some being shrubs, and a few species being herbaceous.
This luckily is still standing strong in my garden and welcome a few bumble bees.

aggielap has contributed a photo to this story.

aloha_plumeria

at 01:55 on September 19th, 2008

The genus, originally spelled Plumiera, is named in honor of the seventeenth-century French botanist Charles Plumier, who traveled to the New World documenting many plant and animal species. The common name "Frangipani" comes from a sixteenth-century Italian noble family, a marquess of which invented a plumeria-scented perfume. Depending on location, however, many other common names exist: "Kembang Kamboja" in Indonesia, "Temple Tree" or "Champa" in India, "Araliya" in Sri Lanka, "Champa" in Laos, and "Dead man's fingers" in Australia, for example. The Australian name is perhaps taken from its thin, leafless, finger-like branches. Many English speakers also simply use the generic name "plumeria".

aloha_plumeria has contributed a photo to this story.

Kaometet

at 02:04 on September 19th, 2008

Analogue, 3 x exposed
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaometet/

Kaometet has contributed a photo to this story.

sarkaofcz

at 02:31 on September 19th, 2008

This shot is from my garden - plants near our garden pavillon.
On the left, very close to the pavillon is the plant of Kiwi, on the right - some small bushes and bigger bush is Deutzia Magicien (Latin name) with pink-white flowers. I do not know this name in the English, we say in the Czech - Trojpuk. Small plant with blue flowers is my new plant of blue Hydrangea. On the right in my shot is the tree - Catalpa, this tree is not so big still . Even if plants of Kiwi and Catalpa is not so usual in our geographic area, so a cultivation of many various plants or trees makes it possible their grow up in the temperate zone also.

sarkaofcz has contributed a photo to this story.

FvS

at 02:37 on September 19th, 2008

This shot is taken in a park on a cold December day in 2007. You see frozen fog, not snow.

FvS has contributed a photo to this story.

elspethbriscoe

at 02:39 on September 19th, 2008

This photo is taken high up in the hills of Costa Rica. It's coffee plants, where the natural habitat would originally have been forest.

elspethbriscoe has contributed a photo to this story.

nosha

at 03:07 on September 19th, 2008

Methyl salicylate is oil of wintergreen, by the way.
Asprin is has an acetate instead of a methyl. I believe the first extracts of salicylates from willow bark were a home remedy for pain.
nosha, ph.d.

nosha has contributed a photo to this story.

alisons98

at 04:10 on September 19th, 2008

This shot was taken at Clifton Gardens, Bowral right at the start of the southern spring.

alisons98 has contributed a photo to this story.

mctoonish

at 04:20 on September 19th, 2008

I took this photo on my front deck in Saskatchewan Canada.

mctoonish has contributed a photo to this story.

dwyte.hill

at 04:56 on September 19th, 2008

These photos were all taken in Hampton, Virginia, at various times of the year. The fern-like plants I actually found growing on the side of a brick building!

dwyte.hill has contributed a photo to this story.

singargirl

at 05:09 on September 19th, 2008

I really loved the earthiness of the natural wood and the contrast of the bright green plant, and I love all the detail you can see in the leaves.

singargirl has contributed a photo to this story.

eightbyfour2008

at 05:18 on September 19th, 2008

I planted some bulbs in the spring and this is the plant that came up , anyone know what kind it is ?

eightbyfour2008 has contributed a photo to this story.

ScottPeters

at 05:29 on September 19th, 2008

This photo was taken at Ripavilla Plantation home in Spring Hill Tennessee, This is a great place to visit if you are ever in the area. Beautiful plants and a Historical Home whats not to like?

ScottPeters has contributed a photo to this story.

Sinead K

at 05:51 on September 19th, 2008

This photo was taken in Dublin, Ireland. I found them growing about 6ft tall behind an out of control bush that I had recently chopped down, amazing survivors.

Sinead K has contributed a photo to this story.

JBColorado

at 06:15 on September 19th, 2008

This is buffalobur nightshade and it is poisonous. It will volunteer, especially in grasslands, and spread quickly.

JBColorado has contributed a photo to this story.

wittaman1

at 07:09 on September 19th, 2008

Photo was taken at the Plant Shop at Ceres Alternative Energy and Organic Gardening Centre Melbourne Australia

wittaman1 has contributed a photo to this story.

Chrisboff

at 07:06 on September 19th, 2008

A peaceful walk in the forest is a great stress reliever.

Chrisboff has contributed a photo to this story.

lone.pig

at 08:55 on September 19th, 2008

Shot taken in Laurier Woods North Bay, Ontario ,Canada.

lone.pig has contributed a photo to this story.

ftvwell

at 09:19 on September 19th, 2008

Contax N digital

645 lens--Sonnar T* 210mm f/ 4.0

ftvwell has contributed a photo to this story.

cassy82

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:06 on September 19th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

World_Groove

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:47 on September 19th, 2008

I wonder if Plants can become Junkies ?

Maggie P. Wiebe

at 11:11 on September 19th, 2008

I love plants, and this is just one of the few pictures I have taken of them. This was taken in my school courtyard in Hamilton Ontario.

Maggie P. Wiebe has contributed a photo to this story.

noelia

at 12:08 on September 19th, 2008

this picture is about small adventures

noelia has contributed a photo to this story.

Mary Faith

at 12:27 on September 19th, 2008

Hi - sorry I don't know the name of this plant. It grows as a small compact bush and although the actual flower itself is not very impressive in its crumpled looking state, the colour is magnificently bright and vibrant. Mary Faith

Mary Faith has contributed a photo to this story.

noodlekid

at 13:09 on September 19th, 2008

This is a photo of a plant in my backyard.

noodlekid has contributed a photo to this story.

Neetynoo

at 14:57 on September 19th, 2008

This is an introduced broom, most likely from Europe, when NZ was being colonised by folk who wanted the place to look like home.
It is regarded as a pest in these parts!

Neetynoo has contributed a photo to this story.

JC0184

at 15:53 on September 19th, 2008

This is a desert plant and I would like to know if anyone can identify it for me. It grows in El Paso, TX

JC0184 has contributed a photo to this story.

jilly jazz

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 18:28 on September 19th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

I especially like it because a photo of mine is featured!

triggr.happy

at 20:32 on September 19th, 2008

This is a young Koru fern from New Zealand

triggr.happy has contributed a photo to this story.

Pat Garcia

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 20:42 on September 19th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. In Mexico we have a culture of using plants as medicine, but I had never read o heard about plants having an immune system, I knew some could be used as a substitute for aspirin though. Great Information.