1 . Many people want to grow their own food in their own backyard, but they don’t know how to start. This article will teach you how to start!
Find out what plants to get. Get plants that can grow in your area, and make sure you plant them at the right time of the year.
Buy your plants and fertilizers. You can either get seeds or get plant seedlings. Go to your local nursery and see what they have. Get fertilizer as well.
Plant your plants in the garden. Use a hand shovel and dig a small hole big enough to put your plant in. Water your plant before you put it in so you can wet the root ball. Sprinkle (撒) in a little bit of fertilizer and put your plant in.
For seeds, stick your finger into the dirt where you want to plant the seed until the dirt reaches the second joint on your finger.
A.Learn how to start a garden. |
B.Plan out your garden wisely. |
C.Make sure to get the right fertilizer for your plants. |
D.Some plants that need acidity are tomatoes and blueberries. |
E.You should grow and water them in spring if you want to have a good start. |
F.Then surround the plant with dirt and make a small circle around it for water. |
G.If you plant them too early or too late, they could freeze and die before you can harvest vegetables. |
2 . For many years, scientists saw trees as independent living things. Each tree in the forest was trying to get light, water and nutrients. Trees competed for resources.
In forests, fungi connect trees through underground networks. Trees’ roots branch out in all directions. The same soil is home to fungi, which can grow on and around tree roots. The fungi grow in thin threads (线状物). As they grow, the threads can link to numerous trees. The fungi create webs between trees known as mycorrhizal (菌根) networks.
The fungi in a mycorrhizal network link the trees together.
Mycorrhizal networks are not always cooperative. Some plants will use the networks to take nutrients from their neighbors. Some flowers will steal food from other plants.
A.Trees also send messages through the networks. |
B.Networks can even connect different species of plants. |
C.Scientists think the fungi are important for healthy forests. |
D.Trees can share sugars, nutrients and water with one another. |
E.However, scientists are discovering that trees may actually work together. |
F.There are also plants that send poisonous substances through the networks. |
G.In these networks, scientists think the trees and the fungi help one another. |
3 . Scientists have shown how plants can protect themselves against genetic (基因的) damage caused by environmental stresses. The growing tips of plant roots and shoots have an in-built mechanism (机制) that spells cell death if DNA damage is detected, avoiding passing on faulty DNA.
Plants have small populations of stem cells (干细胞) at the tips of their roots and shoots, which enable them to continuously grow and produce new tissues throughout their lifetime. These stem cells serve as ancestors for plant tissues and organs. However, any genetic faults present in the stem cells will continue to exist and be passed on permanently throughout the plant’s life, which could last thousands of years.
Given the critical role of stem cells and their exposure to potentially dangerous environments at the growing tips of roots and shoots, safeguards are necessary to prevent stem cell faults from becoming fixed. Researchers Nick Fulcher and Robert Sablowski, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, aimed to uncover these protective mechanisms. Through experiments involving X-rays and chemicals, they discovered that stem cells were more sensitive to DNA damage compared to other cells.
When DNA damage occurs, the cells have the capacity to detect it and cause programmed cells to die, preventing the propagation of the damaged genetic code to the rest of the plant tissues. This process has similarities to the safeguard mechanism found in animal cells, which has been broadly studied due to its relevance in preventing cancer.
The identification of a similar protective system in plants is of great interest in the field of plant development. It also helps scientists develop plants that can better handle environmental stress. So knowledge of how plants deal with these stresses is of fundamental significance to agricultural science’s response to climate change.
1. What is the function of the in-built mechanism in plants?A.To produce more roots and shoots. | B.To increase the overall lifetime of the plant. |
C.To enhance plant growth and nutrient intake. | D.To stop genetic faults in stem cells passing on. |
A.They are relatively abundant in quantity. | B.They are resistant to environmental stresses. |
C.They make quick response to DNA damage. | D.They have the ability to repair damaged DNA. |
A.Spread. | B.Change. | C.Existence. | D.Self-repair. |
A.The way of dealing with climate change on the earth. |
B.The significance of identifying the protective system in plants. |
C.The method of ensuring plant survival under environmental stress. |
D.The urgency of developing plants that can handle environmental stress. |