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Trees Have Hidden 'Muscle' to Straighten Themselves
Developing
In Short: The straightening process involves tension wood, a specialized type of wood that contracts and pulls on the stem, acting somewhat like a muscle.
Researchers from INRAE and the University Clermont Auvergne published their findings in New Phytologist, revealing that trees can change where they produce wood to correct bends.
Young poplar trees can sense and straighten bends in their stems even without light or gravity to guide them.
In an experiment that removed directional cues, the trees corrected their curves over several weeks, relying on their ability to sense their own shape.
The straightening process involves tension wood, a specialized type of wood that contracts and pulls on the stem, acting somewhat like a muscle.
Félix Hartman, an INRAE research engineer, emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary research in uncovering the remarkable capabilities of trees.
Bruno Moulia, an INRAE research director, noted that these findings could reshape more applied research aimed at improving wood quality and obtaining straighter trees.
Tension wood can be observed at the base of trees growing on mountain slopes, where it helps the trees maintain their shape.
Background
Scientists have discovered a sea snake species, Pseudocerastes urarachnoides, that has evolved a tail resembling a spider, a behavior known as caudal luring, which helps it catch prey.
Muscle is a specialised soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissues. There are three types of muscle tissues in vertebrates: skeletal muscle tissue, cardiac muscle tissue, and smooth muscle tissue.
What's still developing
- “Revealing the remarkable capabilities of trees requires a great deal of ingenuity. In this project, we achieved it by bringing together researchers from different disciplines, with complementary skills and perspectives. This requires time and perseverance, but these interdisciplinary discoveries show that the effort is worthwhile,” said Félix Hartman, INRAE research engineer.
- “What we have uncovered is a genuine sensorimotor loop operating in the woody parts of trees. Poor coordination in the successive activation of tension wood results in excessive internal tension, which can affect wood quality. These findings therefore reshape more applied research aimed at improving wood quality… and at obtaining trees that are as straight and as relaxed as possible, whatever life throws at them!” said Bruno Moulia, INRAE research director.
- Straightening it requires the tree to respond to the bend itself, as well as its orientation.