How does magnetism affect plants

High-gradient MF has been used to induce intracellular magnetophoresis of amyloplasts and the obtained data indicate that a magnetic force can be used to study the gravisensing and response system of roots Kuznetsov and Hasenstein, The data reported strongly support the amyloplast-based gravity-sensing system in higher plants and the usefulness of high MF to substitute gravity in shoots Kuznetsov and Hasenstein, ; Kuznetsov et al.

For example, in shoots of the lazy-2 mutant of tomato that exhibit negative gravitropism in the dark, but respond positively gravitropically in red light, induced magnetophoretic curvature showed that lazy-2 mutants perceive the displacement of amyloplasts in a similar manner than wt and that the high MF does not affect the graviresponse mechanism Hasenstein and Kuznetsov, Arabidopsis stems positioned in a high MF on a rotating clinostat demonstrate that the lack of apical curvature after basal amyloplast displacement indicates that gravity perception in the base is not transmitted to the apex Weise et al.

The movement of corn, wheat, and potato Solanum tuberosum starch grains in suspension was examined with videomicroscopy during parabolic flights that generated 20—25 s of weightlessness. During weightlessness, a magnetic gradient was generated by inserting a wedge into a uniform, external MF that caused repulsion of starch grains.

Magnetic gradients were able to move diamagnetic compounds under weightless or microgravity conditions and serve as directional stimulus during seed germination in low-gravity environments Hasenstein et al. The response of transgenic seedlings of Arabidopsis, containing either the CycB1-GUS proliferation marker or the DR5-GUS auxin-mediated growth marker, to diamagnetic levitation in the bore of a superconducting solenoid magnet was evaluated.

Diamagnetic levitation led to changes that are very similar to those caused by real- [e. These changes decoupled meristematic cell proliferation from ribosome biogenesis, and altered auxin polar transport Manzano et al. Arabidopsis in vitro callus cultures were also exposed to environments with different levels of effective gravity and MF strengths simultaneously.

The MF itself produced a low number of proteomic alterations, but the combination of gravitational alteration and MF exposure produced synergistic effects on the proteome of plants Herranz et al.

Effects of MFs have been related to uncoupling of free radical processes in membranes and enhanced ROS generation. Experiments have been performed on several plant species, including pea, land snail Helix aspesa , radish Raphanus sativus , Leymus chinensis , soybean, cucumber Cucumis stivus , broad bean, corn, parsley Petroselinum crispum , and wheat Xia and Guo, ; Regoli et al.

The results suggest that exposure to increased MF causes accumulation of reactive oxygen species and alteration of enzyme activities. These results suggested that apoplastic constituents may work as potentially important redox regulators sensing and signaling MF changes.

Static continuous MF and EF at low intensities have distinct impacts on the antioxidant system in plant leaves, and weak MF is involved in antioxidant-mediated reactions in the apoplast, resulting in overcoming a possible redox imbalance Cakmak et al.

Photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and chlorophyll content increased in corn plants exposed to static MFs of and mT, compared to control under irrigated and mild stress condition Anand et al.

Pre-seed electromagnetic treatments has been used to minimize the drought-induced adverse effects on different crop plants. Pretreatment of seeds of two corn cultivars with different magnetic treatments significantly alleviated the drought-induced adverse effects on growth by improving chlorophyll a and photochemical quenching and non-photochemical quenching. Of all magnetic treatments, and mT for 10 min were most effective in alleviating the drought-induced adverse effects Javed et al.

Polyphasic chlorophyll a fluorescence transients from magnetically treated soybean plants gave a higher fluorescence yield. The total soluble proteins of leaves showed increased intensities of the bands corresponding to a larger subunit 53 KDa and smaller subunit 14 KDa of Rubisco in the treated plants. Therefore, pre-sowing magnetic treatment was found to improve biomass accumulation in soybean Shine et al.

Other general effects on MF application on chlorophyll content have been documented for several plant species Voznyak et al. The CO 2 uptake rate of MF exposed radish seedlings was lower than that of the control seedlings. The dry weight and the cotyledon area of MF exposed seedlings were also significantly lower than those of the control seedlings Yano et al. A MF of around 4 mT had beneficial effects, regardless of the direction of MF, on the growth promotion and enhancement of CO 2 uptake of potato plantlets in vitro.

A permanent MF induces significant changes in bean leaf fluorescence spectra and temperature. MF stimulated lipid synthesis in chloroplast, mitochondrial, and other cell membranes Novitskii et al. Therefore, MF behaved as a correction factor affecting lipid metabolism on the background of light and temperature action Novitskaya et al.

Plasma membranes of seeds of tomato plants were purified, extracted, and applied to a silicon substrate in a buffer suspension and their molecular structure was studied using X-ray diffraction. While MFs had no observable effect on protein structure, enhanced lipid order was observed, leading to an increase in the gel components and a decrease in the fluid component of the lipids Poinapen et al. Inflorescences from Tradescantia clones subjected to high MF showed pink mutations in stamen hair cells Baum and Nauman, Pollen grains of papaya Carica papaya exposed to MF germinated faster and produced longer pollen tubes than the controls Alexander and Ganeshan, Short day strawberry Fragaria vesca plants treated with MF strengths of 0.

Increasing MF strength from control to 0. Total dry matter was also significantly higher for plants from magnetically treated seeds than controls De Souza et al. In the presence of a static MF, the rhythmic leaflet movements of the plant Desmodium gyrans tended to slowdown. Since during this position a rapid change of the extracellular potentials of the pulvinus occurs, it was proposed that the effects could be mediated via the electric processes in the pulvinus tissue Sharma et al.

Electric process imply ion flux variations. The influence of a high-gradient MF on spatial distribution of ion fluxes along the roots, cytoplasmic streaming, and the processes of plant cell growth connected with intracellular mass and charge transfer was demonstrated Kondrachuk and Belyavskaya, In tomato, a significant delay in the appearance of first symptoms of geminivirus and early blight and a reduced infection rate of early blight were observed in the plants from exposed seeds to increased MFs De Souza et al.

Analysis suggested that exposure to the MF roughly tripled the Young's modulus of the newly synthesized cell wall without any lag Haneda et al. In vitro tissue cultures of Paulownia tomentosa and Paulownia fortunei exposed to a magnetic flow density of 2.

When the cultures were exposed to a MF with strength of 2. Increase in MF conditions may also affect secondary plant metabolism. The growth of suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis var. Taxol production increased rapidly from the 4th day with the direct current MF but most slowly with the alternating current MF.

From the microarray analyses that surveyed genes, genes were differentially expressed to a degree greater than 2. The data suggest that MF in excess of 15 Tesla have far-reaching effect on the genome. The wide-spread induction of stress-related genes and transcription factors, and a depression of genes associated with cell wall metabolism, are prominent examples. The roles of MF orientation of macromolecules and magnetophoretic effects are possible factors that contribute to the mounting of this response Paul et al.

Table 1 summarizes the effects of low and high intensity MF on plants. Along with gravity, light, temperature and water availability, the GMF has been present since the beginning of plant evolution.

Apart from gravity, all other factors, including the GMF, changed consistently during plant evolution thereby representing important abiotic stress factors eventually contributing to plant diversification and speciation.

Mass-extinction events profoundly reshaped Earth's biota during the early and late Mesozoic and terrestrial plants were among the most severely affected groups.

Several plant families were wiped out, while some new families emerged and eventually became dominant Figure 1. Figure 1. The evolutionary history of plants. The abundance and diversity of plant fossils increase in the Silurian Period where the first macroscopic evidence for land plants has been found. There is evidence for the evolution of several plant groups of the late Devonian and early Carboniferous periods homosporous ferns and gymnosperms.

From the late Devonian through the base of the late Cretaceous period, gymnosperms underwent dramatic evolutionary radiations and became the dominant group of vascular plants in most habitats. Flowering plants probably also originated during this time, but they did not become a significant part of the fossil flora until the middle of the Cretaceous Period Modified from Occhipinti et al.

In Earth's history, the GMF exhibited several changes of magnetic polarity, with the so-called geomagnetic reversals or excursions, characterized by persistent times with the same polarity. They occurred some hundred times since Earth formation and the mean time between a reversal and the next one has been estimated around , years Figure 2. Because the present normal polarity started around , years ago and a significant field decay has been occurring during the last years, an imminent geomagnetic reversal would not be so unexpected De Santis et al.

Figure 2. Geomagnetic field reversals and Angiosperm evolution. In the direct comparison of GMF polarity and diversion of Angiosperms it is interesting to note that most of the diversion occurred during periods of normal magnetic polarity Modified from Occhipinti et al.

In the course of biological evolution, the fossil record tells us mass extinction occurred several times. One of working hypothesis to explain such mass extinctions is the cease of the GMF when the geomagnetic pole was reversed. Because the strength of the GMF is strongly reduced during polarity transitions, when compared to stable normal or reversed polarities, we recently propose that these variations might be correlated to plant evolution Occhipinti et al.

We do not have measurable records of GMF polarity reversal before late Jurassic, therefore we can only compare variations of GMF polarity with diversion of families and orders of Angiosperms in the Tertiary and Cretaceous periods. Angiosperms are regarded as one of the greatest terrestrial radiations of recent geological times.

The oldest Angiosperm fossils date from the early Cretaceous, — Myr ago, followed by a rise to ecological dominance in many habitats before the end of the Cretaceous Soltis et al. It has been shown that the periods of normal polarity transitions overlapped with the diversion of most of the familial angiosperm lineages Figure 2.

This correlation appears to be particularly relevant to Angiosperms compared to other plants Occhipinti et al.

Patterns of diversification reconstructed onto phylogenetic trees depend on the age of lineages, their intrinsic attributes, and the environments experienced since their origins. Global environments have changed considerably during the history of angiosperm radiation; e. The greater incidence of high-energy particles, and direct effects of magnetism on biological system during reversals period might contribute to alteration that eventually led to mass extinction.

Because plants, in general, do not change their orientation once germinated, there might be distinctive action of the terrestrial magnetism on the growth and physiology of plants Yamashita et al. Magnetoreception might be a driving force contributing to plant evolution, but in order to prove such hypothesis we should be able to demonstrate that some plant genes are affected by MF reversals.

For a number of years laboratory studies on the biological effects of MF have demonstrated that the fields can produce or alter a wide range of phenomena. Explaining the diversity of the reported effects is a central problem. Furthermore, mechanisms combining these concepts and models cannot be excuded Belyavskaya, Observation of resonance effects at specific frequencies, combined with new theoretical considerations and calculations, indicate that birds use a radical pair with special properties that is optimally designed as a receptor in a biological compass.

This radical pair design might be realized by cryptochrome photoreceptors if paired with molecular oxygen as a reaction partner Ritz et al. Therefore, several considerations have suggested that cryptochromes are likely to be the primary sensory molecules of the light-dependent magnetodetection mechanism, which has been suggested to be radical pair based Liedvogel and Mouritsen, In plants, cryptochromes control different aspects of growth and development, i.

In Arabidopsis, cryptochromes are encoded by two similar genes, cry1 and cry2. CRY2 protein levels in seedlings decrease rapidly upon illumination by blue light, presumably as a result of protein degradation of the light-activated form of the receptor Ahmad et al.

Like photolyases, plant cryptochromes undergo a light-dependent electron transfer reaction, known as photoactivation, that leads to photoreduction of the flavin cofactor, FAD Giovani et al. Particular attention has been paid to the potential role of cryptochrome as a plant magnetosensor Ahmad and Cashmore, ; Ang et al. Experiments on Arabidopsis have suggested that magnetic intensity affects cryptochrome-dependent growth responses Ahmad et al. But, as discussed above, these reported cryptochrome-mediated MF effects on plant growth could not be replicated in an independent study Harris et al.

These findings would be very important, if they turn out to exist and be independently replicable, since even though magnetic responses do not seem biologically relevant for the plant, they would show in principle that biological tissue is sensitive to the MF responses that are linked to cryptochrome-dependent signaling pathways. They could thus confirm the ability of cryptochrome to mediate MF responses Liedvogel and Mouritsen, The claimed magnetosensitive responses can best be explained by the radical pair model, as Arabidopsis cryptochromes form radical pairs after photoexcitation Giovani et al.

The radical-pair mechanism is currently the only physically plausible mechanism by which magnetic interactions that are orders of magnitude weaker than the average thermal energy, k B T, can affect chemical reactions.

The kinetics and quantum yields of photo-induced flavin-tryptophan radical pairs in cryptochrome are indeed magnetically sensitive and cryptochrome is a good candidate as a chemical magnetoreceptor.

Recently, a combination of quantum biology and molecular dynamics simulations on plant cryptochrome has demonstrated that after photoexcitation a radical pair forms, becomes stabilized through proton transfer, and decays back to the protein's resting state on time scales allowing the protein, in principle, to act as a radical pair-based magnetic sensor Solov'yov and Schulten, and references therein Figure 3.

Furthermore, the elimination of the local GMF weakens the inhibition of Arabidopsis hypocotyl growth by white light, and delays flowering time. The expression changes of three Arabidopsis cryptochrome-signaling-related genes, PHYB, CO, and FT suggest that the effects of a near-null MF are cryptochrome-related, which may be revealed by a modification of the active state of cryptochrome and the subsequent signaling cascade plant cryptochrome has been suggested to act as a magnetoreceptor Xu et al.

Figure 3. Cryptochrome activation and inactivation reactions. Blue light activates cryptochrome through absorbing a photon by the flavin cofactor. Revealing the relationships between MF and plant responses is becoming more and more important as new evidence reveals the ability of plants to perceive and respond quickly to varying MF by altering their gene expression and phenotype. The recent implications of MF reversal with plant evolution opens new horizons not only in plant science but also to the whole biosphere, from the simplest organisms to human beings.

Magnetotactic bacteria are a diverse group of microorganisms with the ability to orient and migrate along GMF lines Yan et al. The overall picture is thus a general effect of GMF on life forms. Life evolved on Earth along changes in the GMF life-history. Any other environment lacking a GMF is expected to generate reactions in living organisms. These concerns becomes urgent questions in light of planned long-term flights to other planets Belyavskaya, Understanding GMF effects on life will provide the fundamental background necessary to understand evolution of life forms in our planet and will help us to develop scientific recommendations for design of life-support systems and their biotic components for future space exploration.

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Curvature induced by amyloplast magnetophoresis in protonemata of the moss Ceratodon purpureus. It has been reported that magnetic field affects plant growth and development processes such as seed germination and seedling growth Aladjadjiyan, Hypothesis: The magnetism would increase the growth of plants due to the magnetic waves emitted. Alternative Hypothesis: The magnetism would decrease the growth of the plants due to the magnetic waves emitted. Null Hypothesis: The magnetism would not affect the plants growth at all.

Certain scientists suggest that while plants need all the known conditions such as sufficient sunlight, air, water and nutrients to grow, the presence of an electric current help to enhance plant growth. However, if the other conditions are not available, the presence of an electric field will not make a difference. The magnetic pull of the earth is known to have an effect on living organisms and the biological processes.

The evidence indicates that the earth's magnetic pull influences seed germination by acting as an auxin or plant hormone. The magnetic field also assists in ripening of such plants as tomatoes.

Do magnets make plants grow faster? There is some evidence that magnets can actually enhance the growth and yield of many plants.

Studies have demonstrated that magnetic treatment of seeds speeds up germination by accelerating the formation of proteins in the cells. Are plants magnetic? The effect of magnetism actually can change the mitochondria in cells and enhance plant metabolism. How do farmers use magnets?

Magnets are commonly used by farmers and ranchers to prevent Hardware disease, also called bovine traumatic reticuloperitonitis. The magnet then attracts any metal objects and prevents them from travelling further through the body.

What do magnets affect? What does a magnet do? Magnets do the following things: Attract certain materials, such as iron, nickel, cobalt, certain steels and other alloys. Exert an attractive or repulsive force on other magnets opposite poles attract, like poles repel. What do u mean by magnetic field? The magnetic field is the area around a magnet in which there is magnetic force. Moving electric charges can make magnetic fields. Magnetic fields can usually be seen by magnetic flux lines.

At all times the direction of the magnetic field is shown by the direction of the magnetic flux lines. Does caffeine affect plant growth? The effect of caffeine on plant growth is still a subject under study. Using grounded coffee in garden lawns is a common practice to make plants grow faster. However, coffee also contains other ingredients like potassium and phosphorous, which are known to enhance plant growth. How do magnets work? Magnets are objects that produce magnetic fields and attract metals like iron, nickel and cobalt.

The magnetic field's lines of force exit the magnet from its north pole and enter its south pole.