🔎 Trichomes are specialized microscopic hair-like structures that have evolved multiple times acros

🔎 Trichomes are specialized microscopic hair-like structures that have evolved multiple times across plant species, serving several functions in plants, including keeping the frost from the surface cells, reducing transpiration, and increasing light reflectance in desert species.🛡️ The defensive capability of trichomes against herbivores is based on both mechanical and chemical barriers.🔬 Type VI glandular trichomes consist of four glandular cells positioned atop an intermediate cell and a stalk cell, forming miniature biological factories that produce and store defensive compounds.⌬ The rupture mechanics of type VI trichomes involve precise force requirements and rapid release of glandular contents, creating an efficient defensive response when insects inadvertently trigger the structures during movement across plant surfaces.📰 A novel research by Popowski et al. 2024 demonstrated that when larvae of the Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) - a major pest in tomato cultivation - encounter these trichomes, the structures rupture and release glandular solvent that impedes insect motion.⚡ These specialized structures can also act as sophisticated mechanosensitive switches that can trigger broader immune responses in the plant when mechanically stimulated.🍅 Understanding the biomechanical properties and defensive mechanisms of trichomes opens up promising avenues for developing more pest-resistant tomato varieties.Video: tomato plant glandular trichomes in defense response against thrips larvae (credits: Popowski et al. 2024; DOI: 10.1101/2024.12.18.629216; NewScientist).#plants #greenhousehttps://t.me/plantprotectionTAU