What makes perennial plants so special?

[Nirvana]

I have been thinking about this problem for years. Why are perennial plants the only species that have indeterminate growth? Why doesn’t the Hayflick Limit theory apply on them?

[kiekyon]

i’m not sure, but i think it has something to do with centriol

[MrMistery]

What the heck is the heyflick limit theory?

[Nirvana]

Hayflick Limit is the theory proposed by Dr. Leonard Hayflick in the early 60’s.
Basically it says that cell division has a limited amount of times. For example, human cell can go under about 50 times of cell division, then it will die.

The following is a link you can click on and read the theory.
http://www.totse.com/en/fringe/life_extension/age5.html

However, this theory doesn’t aplly on perennial plants, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to have indeterminate growth. Theoretically if perennial plants are healthy and there are no environmental traumas, they can live on as long as they are capable of, they are nearly immortal.

[kiekyon]

well, i’ve heard though i’m not 100% sure
the number of time a cell can divide depend on the centriol
each time it divide, centriol become shorter until it disappear
plants dont have centriol
however u may want to make further research on this
as i say i’m not 100% sure

[mith]

lol, not totse. I love that site but it’s usually very hard to tell the wackos from the geniuses(genii?)

[Nirvana]

I have heard about the centriol gets shorter after each cell division, but I didn’t know that plant cell doesn’t have centriol (I don’t remember)

Then what about other plant species?? They all have life limit as any other animal does. That’s why it made me so confused, why perennial plants are so special among all living creatures on this planet??

[Linn]

quote :

Nirvana: why perennial plants are so special among all living creatures on

how about more specifically, some trees are special. 🙂

[MrMistery]

hate to burst your bubble, but a plant cell doesn’t even have centrioles. If you distroy the centriols in an animal cell with a laser, a spindle will still form and it will undergo mitosis normally. The role of centrioles is not yet known. Most opionions are that centrioles help support the organising of microtubules. However, more data is required.

Also, the rule with the 50 divisions/cell only applies to some cell in the human body. For example, stem cells can divide undefinetly. So can the meristems of plants. It’s just that in cells that only live one year, they can only reach a certain hight.

[kabuto]

not centriol, it should be telomere

[kiekyon]

ah yes, sorry i have mistaken between the two
take a look at this

http://cropandsoil.oregonstate.edu/classes/css430/more_on_telomeres.htm

[Author]

Posts