SUNY-Buffalo: Plants Are Marvelous Chemists, as Gardenia's DNA Shows
June 19, 2020
June 19, 2020
BUFFALO, New York, June 19 -- The State University of New York Buffalo campus issued the following news release:
Plants are some of nature's most extraordinary chemists. Unlike animals, they can't run from predators or pathogens. They can't uproot themselves to seek out a mate or spread their seeds.
So instead, they manufacture chemicals: toxins to kill bacteria. Bitter alkaloids to ward off herbivores. Sweet nectar and jewel-colored pigments to draw in pollinators or b . . .
Plants are some of nature's most extraordinary chemists. Unlike animals, they can't run from predators or pathogens. They can't uproot themselves to seek out a mate or spread their seeds.
So instead, they manufacture chemicals: toxins to kill bacteria. Bitter alkaloids to ward off herbivores. Sweet nectar and jewel-colored pigments to draw in pollinators or b . . .