The ability to distinguish oneself from others is very important for living things.In vertebrates, the immune system incapacitates and eliminates invaders such as pathogens by identifying themselves and others.It is known that some plants grow by identifying themselves and others so as to avoid competing for water and nutrients between the roots they have grown.On the other hand, no example of such self-other identification was known for the above-ground part.

The vines used in this study have been studied since Darwin's time, and it has been clarified that they start wrapping quickly with a slight contact.At this time, the wrapped plant will be restrained from growing.From this, Fukano et al. Suspected that vines might identify themselves and others in order to avoid wrapping around them.As a result of verifying this with Cayratia japonicum, which is a type of vine, it was found that it tends to be difficult to wrap around its own strain.

　This ability to discriminate between self and others of Cayratia japonicum could be seen in the wild environment as well.In the future, it seems that we will verify whether vines such as cucumbers and grapes have similar self-other discrimination ability, and what role they play in ecosystems and agriculture.We also hope to clarify the mechanism of identification.

Source:[Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology] Discovery of self-other discrimination ability in vines