In futuro si andrà a lezione di medicina dalle piante carnivore: nei fluidi che utilizzano per digerire gli insetti si nasconderebbero infatti alcuni enzimi in grado di debellare funghi e batteri. Per oltre un secolo i botanici si sono invano scervellati per cercare di carpire i segreti della digestione di questi vegetali. Ora due scienziati giapponesi sembrano aver svelato il mistero: dopo aver coltivato alcune piante carnivore in laboratorio, sono riusciti a identificare sette proteine present in their digestive fluid - an acid that kills the insects that fall rapidly within the organ responsible for digestion. But then discover that some of these enzymes are not at all to break down the prey, but to preserve them. A contradiction? No, if we think that these plants consume their food very slowly. In the meantime, need to fight the bacteria that take root and feast on insects, robbing the plant the better part of the meal. That's why the carnivorous develop proteins that bring ko bacteria and fungi, and keep longer than the prey. "These enzymes may be valuable to prevent bacterial and fungal infections," says Tatsuro Hamada, co-author of the discovery, "But further research is needed before they can be fully exploited in medicine and agriculture ( photo: Dionaea muscipula ). [ EI ]
Environmental Sciences
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