• Question: what bacteria do they sense

    Asked by robert3434 to Jo on 13 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Jo Hulsmans

      Jo Hulsmans answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Hello robert!

      Very good and difficult question. In a way that is part of what I am researching. Plants can sense most harmfull bacteria and then mount a defense against them. If they can not the plant will get ill because it can not react to the presence of the harmful bacteria in time.
      We also know that some plants know how to sense ‘good’ bacteria (=bacteria they can cooperate with) and guide them to their roots.
      What I am researching is if plants that cannot (yet) cooperate with these good bacteria can still sense them.

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