{"id":189434,"date":"2024-05-15T09:25:25","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/tomato-genetics-a-unexpected-journey-into-a-parallel-universe"},"modified":"2024-05-15T09:25:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:25:25","slug":"tomato-genetics-a-unexpected-journey-into-a-parallel-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/tomato-genetics-a-unexpected-journey-into-a-parallel-universe","title":{"rendered":"Tomato Genetics: A Unexpected Journey Into a \u201cParallel Universe\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/tomato-genetics-a-unexpected-journey-into-a-parallel-universe2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a new study recently published by <i>Science Advances<\/i>, Michigan State University researchers reveal an unexpected genetic revelation about the sugars found in \u201ctomato tar,\u201d shedding light on plant defense mechanisms and their potential applications in pest control.<\/p>\n<p>Tomato tar, a familiar nuisance of avid gardeners, is the sticky, gold-black substance that clings to hands after touching the plant. It turns out that the characteristic stickiness of the substance serves an important purpose. It\u2019s made of a type of sugar called acylsugar that acts as a natural flypaper for would-be pests. \u201cPlants have evolved to make so many amazing poisons and other biologically active compounds,\u201d said Michigan State researcher Robert Last, leader of the study. The Last lab specializes in acylsugars and the tiny, hair-like structures where they\u2019re produced and stored, known as trichomes.<\/p>\n<p>In a surprising discovery, researchers have found acylsugars, once thought to be found exclusively in trichomes, in tomato roots as well. This finding is a genetic enigma that raises as many questions as it does insights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a new study recently published by Science Advances, Michigan State University researchers reveal an unexpected genetic revelation about the sugars found in \u201ctomato tar,\u201d shedding light on plant defense mechanisms and their potential applications in pest control. Tomato tar, a familiar nuisance of avid gardeners, is the sticky, gold-black substance that clings to hands [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":513,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,412],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cosmology","category-genetics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/513"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}