| To test this we simulated herbivory by chewing up the plant's
leaves with forceps or a paper punch and looking for changes in the
number of crystal idioblasts. We also sprayed the plants with
various stress hormones and similarly looked for changes in the
number of crystal idioblasts. Above right, Matt Ryan is posing
with plants he has sprayed with a volatile hormone, jasmonic acid,
and then sealed into plastic bags to keep the hormone in. This
project involved a tremendous amount of work and the processing of
an enormous number of samples (below, samples in process on a rotary
shaker). Chris Gowdy, Natasha Brooks, Matt Ryan, Adam Woodson,
Mike deMilt, Jason Crolley, and Andrea McConnachie all contributed
to this project. The results are still in process, but it
appears that Dieffenbachia does not regulate its idioblast
number in response to herbivory or other stress. |
