Resurrection Plants How Do These Plants Come

Back To Life After Near Total Dehydration?

Near-Death Experience
One of the main problems for plants when they colonized terrestrial environments on Earth nearly a half
billion years ago was how to survive the dryness. Today, much of a typical vascular plants anatomy,
morphology and physiology is dedicated to obtaining and retaining water. Although most vascular plants
can tolerate brief periods (hours to days) of water stress, most plants are killed by long periods (weeks
to months) of drought. Some plants, however, display the remarkable ability to survive near total
desiccation (less than 5% relative water content), which causes them to appear dead. But when
rehydrated, these plants can be revived. Hence, they are often referred to as resurrection plants.
Probably the most well-known resurrection plant is the species Selaginella lepidophylla (see photo
above). This resurrection plant (a.k.a., Rose of Jericho and Siempre Viva) belong to a group of plants
called lycopods. Other plants sometimes called the resurrection bushes, are members of the the
genus Myrothamnus, and, in paticular, the resurrection bush Myrothamnus flabellifoliahas recently been
the object of study by scientists interested in why these plants are so desiccation tolerant.
Bringing Dehydrated Plants Back To Life
The nature the desiccation tolerance of resurrection plants has interested plant scientist for many years.
If the cellular mechanisms for such remarkable drought tolerance was understood, and the genes
involved identified, then it may be possible to use this information to improve drought tolerance in crop
plants. (As previously mentioned here, this may become of increasing concern due to global weirding.)
But lets not get side-tracked with issues regarding global climate change.
how do resurrection plants work?
When dead, these plants exist in a quiescent, desiccated state. That is, their metabolism is at or near
zero, along with a significant reduction in cell and tissue volume. (see refs 1 & 2 below, for example).
What has happened at the cellular level to allow these plants to survive such an extreme state, often
for a long time?

Briefly, the onset of water loss apparently sets into motion a series of cellular events that can be
summarized as follows:
Dehydration > Activation of desiccation-related genes > (1) Alterations in metabolism and (2)
Production of protective proteins
(1) Alterations in metabolism: (a) accumulation of protective solutes such as sucrose, trehalose,
and proline that stabilize proteins and cellular membranes, (b) production of antioxidant
compounds (such as galloylquinic acids), and (c) biochemical alterations in membrane and cell wall
composition.
(2) Production of protective proteins such as dehydrins and expansins that help preserve the
structural integrity of intracellular organelles and the cell walls.