EARTH.COM - Plants can’t run from danger. When sunlight suddenly becomes too intense, temperatures spike, or conditions turn hostile, they have to survive exactly where they are.
To cope, they rely on rapid internal changes. One of the most important is the ability to slow growth almost instantly – not over hours or days, but within minutes. That quick response can mean the difference between surviving a burst of stress or suffering lasting damage.
Now, researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), say they’ve uncovered how that rapid slowdown actually works.