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originally posted by: [post=26782706]Direne
a reply to: Terpene
The most intelligent life forms on this planet, plants, have been around for 700 million years, which has allowed them to develop complex communication systems and advanced intelligence concealment systems. As far as is known, they are the only ones that have overcome the inter-species barrier and this allows them to exchange signals with fungi, insects and some mammals, although their sophisticated communication system with other species is based on always sending the same message: I am toxic, stay away.
The discovery of horizontal gene transfer from plants to animals may have, in turn, enormous evolutionary implications.
“It illustrates a novel route for genetic change and evolution to occur,” Turlings says.
But just how did B. tabachi acquire this plant gene? It may have to do with an ancient virus, the study suggests. The scientists believe that a virus transported this gene from a plant into the whitefly, which Turlings calls “an extremely rare event.”
Gut microbiota, gut microbiome, or gut flora, are the microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses that live in the digestive tracts of animals. The gastrointestinal metagenome is the aggregate of all the genomes of the gut microbiota. The gut is the main location of the human microbiome.
If you’ve ever “gone with your gut” to make a decision or felt “butterflies in your stomach” when nervous, you’re likely getting signals from an unexpected source: your second brain. Hidden in the walls of the digestive system, this “brain in your gut” is revolutionizing medicine’s understanding of the links between digestion, mood, health and even the way you think.