Indigestion as a basis of plant defense???

Question

Scientists used to think of plants as generally defenseless against herbivores. Research now shows that plants use a complex variety of chemical defenses. When a tomato, potato, or alfalfa leaf is wounded by a chewing insect or by other mechanical means, a chemical message travels rapidly throughout the plant. In response to this message, the plant produces and accumulates substances that inhibit digestion in the alimentary canal of the animal that eats the leaf. These wound-induced molecules function as inhibitors of trypsin, one type of enzyme involved in protein digestion.

In laboratory experiments, these wound-induced inhibitors had serious effects on animals. Because they could not break down ingested protein, chicks fed the inhibitors died, and rats and mice became malnourished. The growth period of insect larvae was prolonged, allowing diseases and predators to kill a greater number of the larvae.

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Trypsin inhibitors had previously been detected only in the seeds of legumes, making up about 5 percent of the protein in such seeds. These substances were once thought to be storage proteins, materials broken down for food as the seed germinated and grew into a plant. Scientists now believe that these trypsin inhibitors may act as protective agents.

Alfalfa, potatoes, and tomatoes have similar wound-induced defense systems, each producing its own distinct inhibitors. Scientists are analyzing the genes that produce each inhibitor to determine whether the defense systems share a common ancestry. Many plant families may contain similar gene-regulated mechanisms that produce a variety of defense substances.

In the future, genetic engineering may be used to increase the amount of inhibitor produced and thus provide greater protection for the plant. Human consumers of cooked foods would not be harmed since the wound-induced inhibitors are broken down by heat.

To produce trypsin inhibitors, plants must synthesize these proteins from

1.amino acids
2.fatty acids
3.carbohydrates
4.alcohols

Which one is it????

Answer 1

Wow! That's a long question to just ask what are the building block of proteins! That's the only part of the question that matters!

All proteins are chains of......?











.....amino acids.

Remember- nucleotides make nucleic acids, sugars make carbohydrates, amino acids make proteins & enzymes, and triglycerides make lipids and fats. That's all you need to know. Skip the rest of the story and go to the end to see what's really asked.

Answer 2

A good fart! Oh! no that's for a tummy ache. Try some dry bread or crackers. Lager is the worst for indigestion. Opps did I say that outloud !! lol ♥