Can plants sense natural airborne sounds and respond to them rapidly? We show that Oenothera drummondii flowers, exposed to playback sound of a flying bee or to synthetic sound signals at similar frequencies, produce sweeter nectar within 3 min, potentially increasing the chances of cross pollination. We found that the flowers vibrated mechanically in response to these sounds, suggesting a plausible mechanism where the flower serves as an auditory sensory organ. Both the vibration and the nectar response were frequency‐specific: the flowers responded and vibrated to pollinator sounds, but not to higher frequency sound. Our results document for the first time that plants can rapidly respond to pollinator sounds in an ecologically relevant way. Potential implications include plant resource allocation, the evolution of flower shape and the evolution of pollinators sound. Finally, our results suggest that plants may be affected by other sounds as well, including anthropogenic ones.
This study describes the design and utilization of a multiplex reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to identify SARS-COV-2 (SC2) RNA in general and, specifically, to detect whether it is of lineage B.1.1.7 or B.1.351. Implementation of this method in diagnostic and research laboratories worldwide may help the efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this report, we describe four RT-qPCR assays that enable rapid identification of the newly emerging SARS-COV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of concern. The assays target Omicron characteristic mutations in the nsp6 (Orf1a), spike and nucleocapsid genes. We demonstrate that the assays are straightforward to assemble and perform, are amendable for multiplexing, and may be used as a reliable first-line tool to identify B.1.1.529 suspected samples. Importantly, this is a preliminary development report. Further validation and optimization of the assays described herein will be published hereafter.
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