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CONSERVED CALMODULIN (CaM). "What is really interesting about this Ca2+ sensor is that CaM is one of the most conserved Ca2+-binding proteins in eukaryotes [>70 % sequence alignment similarity between animals and plants, albeit plants have a much larger repertoire of genes coding for CaM-target proteins." https://lnkd.in/dH68RKn View in LinkedIn

CALCIUM-CALMODULIN. "In both animals and plants, fluctuations in [Ca2+]i levels are directly linked to stimulus–response coupling through changes in the concentration of small molecules and proteins, including calmodulin (CaM)." https://lnkd.in/dH68RKn View in LinkedIn

IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS. "Interestingly in animals, fluctuations in [Ca2+]i during learning seem to be essential in priming the organism for the formation of long-term memory, without affecting short-term memory. In plants, this same [Ca2+]i system is already known to contribute to the formation of stress imprints and may be responsible for the long-term memory we observed in Mimosa." https://lnkd.in/dH68RKn View in LinkedIn

Flowstone is the same calcite material that the mediaeval sculptors used to make their remarkable alabaster creations. View in LinkedIn

TWO OPTIONS. "For instance, light-driven morphogenesis of tree crowns, or exploration of patchy environment by foraging clonal plants, can be convincingly approximated by a model that only requires the individual branches or ramets to avoid collision with congeneric neighbors and to adjust their branching and runner production according to present light conditions." https://lnkd.in/dfsCv77 View in LinkedIn

STARTLING REALIZATION. "Thanks to the impressive models constructed, in particular, by P. Prusinkiewicz and co-workers, we have to accept the startling realization that history, if included in the model at all, takes often only the form of constraints carried by the environment (such as e.g., shading by branches or leaves of the developing plant) rather than memory of the developing individual itself." https://lnkd.in/dfsCv77 View in LinkedIn

DISCRIMINATING ASSESSMENT. "Not all seemingly convincing examples of “intelligent” plant behavior pass our memory model test. In particular, orientation towards extrinsic cues such as light or gravity can be often described by models that only require perception of, and reaction to, synchronous cues and stimuli, without any reference to the past." An impressive and discriminating assessment. https://lnkd.in/dfsCv77 View in LinkedIn

HABITUATION. "In addition to Mimosa, habituation has been found in the carnivorous plant Drosera (sundew). When sundew tentacles are repeatedly stimulated they stop curling toward the stimulus. In addition to sundew, Applewhite cites an experiment by Darwin reportedly showing habituation in the passion flower (Passiflora gracilis)." https://lnkd.in/dsHa-Px View in LinkedIn

STRESS VS HABITUATION. "These are quite different from habituated responses like the one shown by the Mimosa plants in this study, where an input to the gene may produce a behavioral output that operates as a negative regulator of the gene, imposing an inhibitory epigenetic marking which, in turn, leads to a smaller behavioral response when recurring stimulations of the same kind activate that gene [i.e. memory of inhibitory modifications and recall." https://lnkd.in/dH68RKn View in LinkedIn

FROM RADIAL TO BILATERAL SYMMETRY. "The chordate sagittal plane is perpendicular to the sagittal plane primitive for the bilaterally symmetrical metazoans (Bilateria). The earliest metazoans, when symmetrical at all, were probably radial in symmetry. The axis of symmetry was vertical and the mouth, when present, opened either upward or downward." https://lnkd.in/dXzuUmP View in LinkedIn