Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination
Cyanide is well known for its toxicity towards living organisms. Many plants use cyanide as a defensive agent against herbivores, releasing it through the enzymatic hydrolysis of endogenous cyanogenic compounds. At low concentrations, cyanide has been proposed to have a regulatory role in many plant...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17001 |
| _version_ | 1848749338048593920 |
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| author | Flematti, G. Merritt, D. Piggott, M. Trengove, R. Smith, S. Dixon, Kingsley Ghisalberti, E. |
| author_facet | Flematti, G. Merritt, D. Piggott, M. Trengove, R. Smith, S. Dixon, Kingsley Ghisalberti, E. |
| author_sort | Flematti, G. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Cyanide is well known for its toxicity towards living organisms. Many plants use cyanide as a defensive agent against herbivores, releasing it through the enzymatic hydrolysis of endogenous cyanogenic compounds. At low concentrations, cyanide has been proposed to have a regulatory role in many plant processes including stimulation of seed germination. However, no ecological role for cyanide in seed germination has been established. In the present study, we show that burning plant material produces the cyanohydrin, glyceronitrile. We also show that, in the presence of water, glyceronitrile is slowly hydrolysed to release cyanide that stimulates seed germination of a diverse range of fire-responsive species from different continents. We propose that glyceronitrile serves as an ecological store for cyanide and is an important cue for stimulating seed germination and landscape regeneration after fires. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:19:21Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-17001 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:19:21Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-170012017-09-13T15:44:14Z Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination Flematti, G. Merritt, D. Piggott, M. Trengove, R. Smith, S. Dixon, Kingsley Ghisalberti, E. Cyanide is well known for its toxicity towards living organisms. Many plants use cyanide as a defensive agent against herbivores, releasing it through the enzymatic hydrolysis of endogenous cyanogenic compounds. At low concentrations, cyanide has been proposed to have a regulatory role in many plant processes including stimulation of seed germination. However, no ecological role for cyanide in seed germination has been established. In the present study, we show that burning plant material produces the cyanohydrin, glyceronitrile. We also show that, in the presence of water, glyceronitrile is slowly hydrolysed to release cyanide that stimulates seed germination of a diverse range of fire-responsive species from different continents. We propose that glyceronitrile serves as an ecological store for cyanide and is an important cue for stimulating seed germination and landscape regeneration after fires. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17001 10.1038/ncomms1356 unknown |
| spellingShingle | Flematti, G. Merritt, D. Piggott, M. Trengove, R. Smith, S. Dixon, Kingsley Ghisalberti, E. Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination |
| title | Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination |
| title_full | Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination |
| title_fullStr | Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination |
| title_full_unstemmed | Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination |
| title_short | Burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination |
| title_sort | burning vegetation produces cyanohydrins that liberate cyanide and stimulate seed germination |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17001 |