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The deadly potatoe

RamPuppy

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The Peruvian Andes gave the world the potato, which is one of the largest crops in the world today. The problem is, the modern potato is plagued by potato beetles and aphids, which also carry some viral diseases to the plant. Now a wild potato found in the Bolivian Andes is being studied because it seems to be quite resistant to these pests.

The Bolivian potato defends itself using tiny hairs on its leaves called trichomes. There are roughly the same number of tall and short trichomes on the leaves, and they work together to provide a complete defense system for the plant. The hairs are so closely spaced that even a tiny aphid cannot avoid them. The end of each hair has a sack filled with defense chemicals. The short trichomes release their chemicals only when disturbed. The longer trichomes continuously release their chemicals. When an aphid gets on a leaf, its legs cannot avoid coming in contact with the sticky fluid the short trichomes release. To make certain that the aphid collects enough of the sticky stuff, the plant also releases a chemical that agitates the aphid. This gooey liquid finally sets up into a hard mass, leaving the aphid to starve. It also appears that a scent emitted by one of the trichomes makes the leaves completely distasteful to potato beetles.

A potato may someday be developed that can save itself from the pestilence of aphids and beetles.
 
Wow, that is interesting! Thanks for passing the info.
Andrew
 
Ya, but how would it taste? Is this really real?
 
Now the potato only needs to evolve itself to protect it from humans. A flamethrower would be sufficient I think.
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not in the habbit of posting false stuff jon. Yes, it is real, as for how it tastes, who knows? I haven't tasted one. I think the idea is to hybridize this potatoe with our normal spuds to see if a beneficial cross can be achieved.

not miffed or anything, but out of curiosity, what about post or me would make you question it's validity?
 
Ram...you and Dan Quayle share something in common. lol
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That's very interesting. Its really amazing how plants develop their defense systems.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (RamPuppy @ July 23 2004,3:22)]not miffed or anything, but out of curiosity, what about post or me would make you question it's validity?
Oh nothing, I just didn't know if you were posting this as a spoof or a real article.
smile.gif
 
Now, if only the plant could digest the but, it would be considered carnivorous... ;)
 
  • #10
lol... I don't spoof.. I whack with the mallet!
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seriously, who is to know if it is indeed carnivorous or not? usually a study is done to determine if a plant is carnivorous, we know frmo what studies have been done the plant releases a chemical that agitates the a prey, and eventually solidifies and starves it to death. One wonders if A) the dead aphid falls to the ground as fertilizer, or as the plant decays for the year, the nutrituin derived the following year could be percieved as carnivorous behavior? interesting.
 
  • #11
- And tomatoes, too, but in a chemical way.
I found this in the Mother Earth News magazine -
"When tomato hornworms begin feeding on tomato leaves, the tomatoes do two things -- they change their leaf chemistry so they become a less nutritious food, and they release volatile chemicals that attract natural enemies of hornworms.  In tomato and many other plants, these volatile chemicals include jasmonic acid, a natural plant hormone that works like a dinner bell to beneficials such as braconid wasps, which are major parasites of tomato hornworms."  It goes on to say that it's been found "that the same 'signaling pathway' decreases feeding by spider mites on tomatoes; other researchers have found that jasmonic acid even attracts carvivorous mites, which then feed on the pest spider mites."
Fascinating stuff, that plants can 'take care of themselves,' eh?
 
  • #12
Don't bromeliads use trichomes to absorb water and nutrients from decayed stuff? Because if the potato could get nutrients from the bugs, then wouldn't it be considered carnivorous?


Mike
 
  • #13
[b said:
Quote[/b] (PlantAKiss @ July 23 2004,3:26)]Ram...you and Dan Quayle share something in common.  lol  
smile_m_32.gif


That's very interesting.  Its really amazing how plants develop their defense systems.
Suzanne, I just read this topic for the first time. I think I might be the only one who caught the potato(e) allusion.

I also went back a few pages in the Utricularia Forum to learn from the masters about cultivating them, since I've received 16 species in the past couple weeks. I caught some interplay between you, William and Joseph. Talk about rolling on the floor....
 
  • #14
i heard nocotine in tobacco is a natural insecticide.

even if this potatoe is carnivorous, it's still a potatoe, y'know? i don't think i'd grow it.


imagine the ooh's and aah's your friends and family give you when they see your plants for the first time and leard they are carnivores, i don't think i'd get the same response from people over a potatoe, carnivorous or not.
 
  • #15
I am mad at Bolivia...they are the ones that shot Butch and Sundance.
 
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