Gene transplantation: For the first time, russian science has bred plants that glow at night.

Researchers at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Biology at Moscow University used gene transplantation to transfer several genes from glowing mushrooms to tobacco DNA, creating for the first time plants that glow at night.
experts pointed out that the future of light-emitting plants can be used to decorate houses and public places, so the results of the research have good commercial use. Professor Vladimir Chubb, manager of the
's Biological Botanical Garden at Moscow University, has been unsuccessful for years in trying to transplant glowing genes from fireflies and bacteria to grow glowing plants.
and Russian researchers studying the bioluminescence of mushrooms two years ago found that they were caused by a small amount of reaction, while the same substances needed to glow could be found in other plants.
In later studies, Russian researchers transferred several genes from glowing mushrooms to tobacco DNA to produce tobacco plants with much higher light-emitting brightness than mushrooms.
Vladimir Chubb said the study found that the light emitted by genetically modified plants varies greatly, and that the light emitted by the plant's young branches, especially the flowers, is brighter, and the light emitted by the plant's leaves can show strange patterns and waves, and the intensity of bioluminescence can change during the day.
he also said that the plant's stable luminescence does not produce toxic substances, nor does it affect the normal growth and development of plants.
Vladimir Chubb said the study found that tobacco's glow ingress increased rapidly after the lights were turned off, and that if the lights remained off for several days, the plant's light would continue to glow according to its biological clock.
this suggests that the mechanism of bioluminescence reflects the metabolic rate of plants, including the causes of mechanical damage.
If you cut a plant with a knife, a special method can be used to find out how the location of the wound began to glow, the plant "pain" signal quickly through the nerves began to spread.
says that studying the mechanisms of glowing plants can lead us to find unexpected phenomena: If they hurt them, they can feel as painful as injured people.
experts pointed out that if the results made on tobacco to flowers, will be able to develop many light-emitting plants that can be used to decorate houses and public places, so the results of the research have good commercial prospects.
related story: Scientists have announced the feasibility of creating their own visible-light plants. Anyone who has seen Avatar knows that there's a lush jungle of creatures that glow squeals in the movie, and that's a no-one to think.
and now, with advances in genetic design, people can realize their fascination with persistently glowing plants.
this week, in the journal Nature Biotechnology, scientists announced the feasibility of creating plants that can emit visible light themselves.
scientists have found that bioluminescence found in some mushrooms is metabolically similar to some of the natural processes common in plants.
by implanting DNA extracted from mushrooms, scientists were able to create brighter plants than ever before.
scientists can use this biolight to observe the plant's internal activity.
unlike other commonly used forms of bioluminescence, such as fireflies, maintaining mushroom bioluminescence do not require unique chemical agents, and plants containing mushroom DNA continue to glow throughout their life cycle, from seedlings to maturity.
the new discovery could also be used for practical and aesthetic purposes, most notably for creating glowing flowers and other ornamental plants.
While replacing streetlights with glowing trees may be a fantasy, these plants emit a pleasant green halo from their life energy.
the report, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, was written by 27 scientists, led by Karen Sarkisyan and Dr Ilia Yampolsky.
research is carried out mainly by Planta, a biotechnology start-up in Moscow, the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the London Academy of Medical Sciences and the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology, with financial support from Planta, the Skolkovo Foundation and the Russian Science Foundation.
these plants produce more than 1 billion photons per minute, according to the authors. "30 years ago, I helped create the first glowing plant to use the firefly gene," said Dr Keith Wood, chief executive of
Light Bio.
these new plants produce brighter, more stable light, which is expressed entirely in their genetic code.
" Light Bio, a start-up, plans to partner with Planta to commercialize the new technology for ornamental indoor plants.
However, designing new biological features is not as simple as transferring parts of some genes from one organism to another.
like gears on a watch, newly added parts must be integrated into the host's metabolism.
For most organisms, the part of the way it glows is not all known.
Until recently, bacterial bioluminescence had a complete list.
but past attempts to use these parts to grow glowing plants have not been successful, mainly because bacterial parts often do not work properly in more complex organisms.
more than a year ago, scientists discovered the part of mushrooms that maintains bioluminescence.
this is the first time that scientists have fully defined a biological light from an advanced multicellular organism.
in this report, the authors reveal the conclusion that mushroom bioluminescence is particularly effective in plants, which allows them to increase the brightness of glowing plants by at least 10 times.
study used ordinary cameras and smartphones to record green glows from leaves, stems, roots and flowers.
, this persistent glow does not damage plants.
Although there is no genetic relationship between mushrooms and plants, its luminescence is concentrated in an organic molecule that is also necessary for plants to make cell walls, called coffee acid, which produces light through the metabolic cycle of four enzymes.
two enzymes convert coffee acid into a glowing precursor, and a third enzyme oxidizes the precursor, producing photons, and the last enzyme reconverts the oxidized molecule into coffee acid, starting a new cycle.
in plants, coffee acid is an integral part of lignin, which helps to provide mechanical strength to the cell wall.
, it is part of the biomass of plant lignocellulose, the richest renewable resource on Earth.
as a key component of plant metabolism, coffee acid is also an integral part of many other basic compounds, including color, fragrance, antioxidants, etc.
although they sound similar to caffeine, caffeine acid has nothing to do with caffeine.
by linking the production of light to this key molecule, the light emitted by plants provides an intrinsic metabolic indicator that reveals the physiological state of the plant and its response to the environment.
for example, when a ripe banana skin is placed nearby (release of ethylene), this glow increases dramatically.
the younger parts of the plant tend to emit the brightest light, and the flowers are particularly bright.
flickering patterns or light waves are usually visible, revealing the activity that is usually hidden inside the plant.
in the study, the authors used tobacco plants because they are genetically simple and grow quickly.
but the benefits of mushroom bioluminescence are widely used in a variety of plants.
Planta and Arjun Khakhar and colleagues have demonstrated the feasibility of other glowing plants, including changchunflowers, dwarf oxflowers and roses.
As we develop further, we can even expect brighter plants in the future, and future plants may have new features, such as changing brightness or color depending on people and the environment.
through these living auras that mimic Avatar movies, we may even have a new understanding of plants.
Source: Planta, Compilation/Forward Economics APP Information Group Source: Science daily Dong Yingxuan.