Animal saliva and plant growth
Seth Itzkan
Animal saliva has stronger effects on plant growth than salivary components
- plant–herbivore interactions;
- compensation;
- Leymus chinensis ;
- sheep;
- epidermal growth factor;
- thiamine;
- late-growing season
Abstract
Mutualism between plants and animals demonstrates that grazing has positive impacts on plant growth. Animal saliva plays an important role in plant–herbivore interactions, and various salivary components work for the beneficial relationship. This study was performed to compare responses of Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvelev. (Poaceae) to sheep saliva and two salivary components. One randomized block designed experiment was conducted in 2007 with six treatments: control, clipping with water, with saliva, with epidermal growth factor (EGF), with thiamine and with mixture of EGF and thiamine. There were significant differences between treatments on biomass, buds and tillers of L. chinensis. Compared with control plants, there was no compensatory response in clipped plants due to the limited number of available meristems in late-growing season. Plants in clipping with saliva had more biomass and buds than those in clipping with water or salivary components. Clipping with salivary components had no stimulatory effects on plant growth, relative to clipping with water. The results showed that herbivore saliva had greater impacts than salivary components, and there was no additive effect between salivary components on plant growth. This study demonstrated the complexity in saliva components, which offer saliva with the capacity to play an important role in plant–herbivore interactions.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029259
Plants Can Benefit from Herbivory: Stimulatory Effects of Sheep Saliva on Growth of Leymus chinensis
- Jushan Liu,
- Published: January 03, 2012
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029259
Background
Plants and herbivores can evolve beneficial interactions. Growth factors found in animal saliva are probably key factors underlying plant compensatory responses to herbivory. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about how animal saliva interacts with herbivory intensities and how saliva can mobilize photosynthate reserves in damaged plants.
Examination of North American bison saliva for potential plant growth regulators
Abstract
A series of laboratory bioassays were utilized to test for the presence of potential plant growth factors in saliva from a large native ungulate, the North American bison (Bison bison L.). Whole saliva enhancedAvena coleoptile growth at high pH, whether alone or in combination with indoleacetic acid (IAA). However, this enhancement was a result of salts in the saliva (primarily NaHCO3) rather than of other compounds acting hormonally, enhancing IAA activity, or inhibiting IAA oxidase activity as possibly occurs with some insect salivas. Additionally, the absence of detectable cytokinins in the saliva was indicated by its failure to enhance cucumber cotyledon expansion. This suggests that biochemical control of plant growth by salivary compounds following grazing is probably not an important component of this ruminant's interactions with its food plants, as has been suggested for some herbivores.
________________________
Seth Itzkan
CEO, Planet-TECH Associates
240B Elm Street, Suite B1
Somerville, MA 02144
www.planet-tech.com | http://www.dailykos.com/user/planettech
se...@planet-tech.com
617-996-9157
Jane Hammer
Seems to be no mention of saliva microbes which I would think might play a role in enhanced growth following herbivory.
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