Asparagus and orchids share surprising cellular similarities

Findings could improve crop breeding for climate resilience

Asparagus from your dinner plate and vanilla orchids, which produce your favorite ice cream flavor, have more in common than you might think. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered that these seemingly unrelated plants share striking similarities in their cell walls, the structures that act like plant skeletons.

Understanding plant cell walls

Plant cell walls are composed of complex carbohydrates that provide mechanical support and facilitate the transport of water. These intricate structures have enabled flowering plants to colonize some of Earth’s most challenging environments, from arid deserts to the frozen tundra.

“Flowering plants have succeeded in adapting to the most unwelcoming and harshest environments in the world, in part due to the construction of their cell walls,” said Professor Peter Ulvskov from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.

Think of these carbohydrates as nature’s building blocks. Each carbohydrate has unique structures and functions that determine how plants survive and thrive. Although humans rely heavily on plants for food, building materials, and medicine, scientists’ knowledge of their fine structure remains surprisingly limited.

Creating a comprehensive plant catalog

To comprehend these relationships, botanist Louise Isager Ahl from the Natural History Museum of Denmark and her colleagues examined leaf and stem tissues from 287 distinct plant species within the plant kingdom. Their goal was to create a comprehensive reference catalog of the compositions of plant cell walls and determine what drives their evolution.

The researchers collected plant materials both in nature, primarily on the island of Zealand, Denmark, and from the University of Copenhagen’s various collections. They employed a specialized technique called MAPP (microarray polymer profiling) to analyze the unique carbohydrate compositions in both leaf and stem materials.

“We know that carbohydrates are some of the most complex chemical structures in nature, but how they are assembled, how they work and how they have evolved over the past several million years is still largely unknown,” explained Ahl.

Genetics trumps environment

The findings challenged conventional thinking. Initially, researchers hypothesized that environmental factors would shape cell wall structure. Instead, they discovered that genetic heritage plays the dominant role.

Plants sharing the same habitat, like beech trees, anemones, and grasses in a Danish forest, actually have vastly different cell wall compositions. The carbohydrate makeup of a plant relates more closely to its position on the evolutionary family tree than to where it grows or how it looks.

“The carbohydrate composition of a plant is thereby more closely related to where it is placed in a family tree than to its habitat and growth form,” Ulvskov noted. “Here, heritage plays a more important role than environment.”

This principle also applies to plants that appear similar but belong to different plant families. The jade plant (Crassula ovata) and jade necklace (Peperomia rotundifolia) are both common houseplants with similar-looking leaves. Yet, their cell wall structures differ dramatically due to their distinct evolutionary histories.

Applications for agriculture and climate

This discovery has practical implications for agriculture and climate resilience. The comprehensive catalog could guide targeted breeding programs to improve crop quality and sustainability.

Cell walls largely determine the digestibility of plant materials, so understanding their composition could enhance both human food and animal feed production. “Targeted breeding of cell walls could increase both the quality and sustainability of animal feed,” said Ulvskov.

The research team believes their dataset serves as an ideal reference for studying climate-resilient plants. As climate change continues to challenge plant habitats worldwide, this research provides crucial insights for developing more resilient crops.

“All of the climatic and environmental changes that we are now facing are challenging the planet’s plants, and thus humans as well,” concluded Ulvskov. “If we are going to develop more resilient plants, it is important that we understand the mechanisms by which they survive or succumb.”

The study was published in the journal Plant, Cell & Environment.

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