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Like animals, plants produce chemicals called hormones which are produced in one part of the plant to signal cells in another part of the plant to respond. Many flowering plants bloom at the appropriate time because of light-sensitive compounds that respond to the length of the night, a phenomenon known as photoperiodism.
For example, plants growing in nitrogen-poor soils will use carbon-based defenses (mostly digestibility reducers), while those growing in low-carbon environments (such as shady conditions) are more likely to produce nitrogen-based toxins. The hypothesis further predicts that plants can change their defenses in response to changes in nutrients.
Many plants produce toxins to protect themselves from herbivores. Major classes of plant toxins include alkaloids , terpenoids , and phenolics . [ 142 ] These can be harmful to humans and livestock by ingestion [ 143 ] [ 144 ] or, as with poison ivy , by contact. [ 145 ]
Plants lack glands to produce and store hormones, because, unlike animals—which have two circulatory systems (lymphatic and cardiovascular) —plants use more passive means to move chemicals around their bodies. Plants utilize simple chemicals as hormones, which move more easily through their tissues. They are often produced and used on a ...
The toxins in poisonous plants affect herbivores, and deter them from consuming the plants. Plants cannot move to escape their predators, so they must have other means of protecting themselves from herbivorous animals. Some plants have physical defenses such as thorns, spines and prickles, but by far the most common type of protection is ...
Phytoestrogens are chemicals which act like the hormone estrogen. Estrogen is important for women's bone and heart health, but high amounts of it has been linked to breast cancer. [18] In the plant, the phytoestrogens are involved in the defense system against fungi. [19] Phytoestrogens can do two different things in a human body.
The introduction of new herbicides and pesticides only selects for insects that can ultimately avoid or utilize these chemicals over time. Adding toxin free plants to a population of transgenic plants, or genetically modified plants that produce their own insecticides, has been shown to minimize the rate of evolution in insects feeding on crop ...
Biotoxins in nature have two primary functions: Predation, such as in the spider, snake, scorpion, jellyfish, and wasp; Defense as in the bee, ant, termite, honey bee, wasp, poison dart frog and plants producing toxins. The toxins used as defense in species among the poison dart frog can also be used for medicinal purposes