On the windswept coasts of the US states of Oregon and California, a small plant grows, but it has a remarkable ability to survive in the face of the salt spray that kills similar plants inland.
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It is the “yellow monkey flower,” now known in scientific classification as “Erythranthus gutata,” whose survival secrets biologists at Michigan State University in the United States have finally begun to unravel, in an attempt to understand how it manages to thrive in conditions that leave other plants scorched, brown, and withered.
“When scientists study the ability of plants to tolerate salinity, they usually focus on the percentage of salt present in the soil,” explains Madison Plunkert, a doctoral student in plant biology in the Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour program at Michigan State University. “Soil salinity researchers have a basic framework of mechanisms that they test to understand how a particular plant deals with salt stress.”
The lead author of the new study, which was recently published in the American Journal of Biology, told Al Jazeera Net: “Our goal was to understand the mechanisms by which these plants adapt to salt spray specifically: Do they survive salt spray because they are exposed to less of it due to their delayed flowering? Or are they exposed to salt but prevent it from entering the leaves? Or do they allow salt to enter the leaves but protect their cells from damage? It turns out that the answer includes all three of these possibilities!”
A wild flower that defies harsh conditions
At first glance, monkey flowers may not seem like plants capable of withstanding harsh conditions, but they are widespread in western North America, and succeed in growing in environments where most plants struggle to survive.
Researchers have found species of it growing on the edges of abandoned copper mines, around hot springs, and in serpentine soils, environments that contain conditions or concentrations of elements that can be toxic to most plants.
Monkey flowers, which grow along the Pacific coast into inland areas extending as far as the Great Plains, have to face the additional challenge of constant exposure to salt spray carried by winds from the sea.
Coastal homes on beaches, covered in rust stains and with peeling paint, reveal one aspect of the corrosive effects of salt, but as much as salt can damage wood, metals and paint, its effect on plants can be more serious, as it can cause roots and leaves to dry out, as well as hinder plant growth.
"Salt vehicle" reveals the secret to splash resistance
About 20 years ago, Michigan State University biologist David Lowery, the lead author of the study overseeing Madison, noticed that when coastal and inland monkeyflowers were sprayed with salt water inside the greenhouse, the indoor plants wilted and turned brown, and many died, while the plants collected from coastal areas survived. Their ability to resist the usual toxic effects of salt spray seemed like a mystery that needed explaining.
To understand how these plants cope with these conditions, David, Madison, and their colleagues devised a method that mimics the coastal environment inside the growth chambers of their laboratory in Michigan. They called it the "salt vehicle," a cart equipped with air-spray guns and bottles of seawater, and surrounded by a garbage bag so that the passageway would not fill with a mist of salt spray.
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