JERUSALEM, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli researchers have found that plants respond to injury by quickly redirecting sugars to damaged areas to help repair tissue, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said in a statement on Tuesday.
In their new study, published in PNAS, the researchers showed that when plants are wounded, they face the challenge of delivering energy to the injured site to support regrowth.
The researchers discovered that injuries trigger a rapid rerouting of sugars through the plant, concentrating energy where it is needed most. Using a fluorescent sensor, they observed sugar movement in living plants in real time and saw how glucose builds up around wounds as healing begins.
The team identified genes that help control this process, showing how plants actively manage energy distribution during recovery.
The findings suggest that plants have a built-in system for rapidly directing energy to damaged tissues, which may help improve understanding of crop resilience and plant recovery under stress conditions. ■
