Unlike humans, plants are not mobile. This being said, a
scorching hot summer day can be terrible for these immobile species. Japanese researchers from RIKEN Center for
Sustainable Resource Science have identified the gene that keeps the chloroplast
membranes from destabilizing in high temperatures. They named the gene Heat
Inducible Lipase (HIL1). This newfound
knowledge can help researchers develop plants that are more heat tolerant,
which could be incredibly important in combating global warming.
Engineering plants to tolerate extreme heat conditions could
allow agriculture to expand to regions where plants are usually unable to grow.
With ever-changing temperature and precipitation levels, plants that are more
tolerant in heat and stressful conditions would be extremely beneficial to our warming world.
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