Trees – Page 36

A common type of cancerous growth found mostly on trees is called a witch's broom. An example of a tree commonly planted in Utah that is often broomed is the London sycamore or sycamore (Platanus acerifolia). Trees can get cancer. Most other plants can too. Cancer in plants is not deadly, but it produces large bulbous structures, called crown galls, that destroy the beauty of the plant. The galls can often be removed without damaging the rest of the tree, although there is a risk that they will return. A number of woody plants can also serve as a good ground cover, primarily creeping juniper, fragrant sumac, bearberry and Russian thuja. The main difference between plant cancer and animal cancer is that they cannot easily spread to other parts of the plant or to other plants. All can be considered plant cancers, and strange appearances can be considered cancers, although they have significant differences from the cancers found in higher animals such as humans. Like tumors, they continue to grow until the plant they attach to can no longer support them. Cells that undergo rapid growth and form tumours, tumors are not usually classified as cancer as they simply remain in the area and cannot be transferred elsewhere. Cells that break away from malignant tumors and grow rapidly can attach themselves to another organ, where they start growing again when they enter the bloodstream. How Plant Tumors Are Removed To get rid of plant cancers, cut off the tumors or growths beneath which they are attached. Tumors may continue to grow for many years but do not spread throughout the rest of the plant, meaning no metastases. Even if a plant cell begins to divide uncontrollably, the tumor it produces remains stuck in one place, which often has little effect on the health of the plant, such as redwood roots. Plant cells caused by it grow uncontrollably around the infection, like a tumor. Old cells do not die, but instead grow uncontrollably to form new abnormal cells. In young people, when there are too many errors in the cellular genome, a process called "apoptosis" occurs, after which the defective cells die before they can multiply potentially cancerous and form a tumor. A bacterial plant pathogen causes plant cells to divide uncontrollably and grow to unusually large sizes. Once inside, the gallbladder bacterium transfers some of its genetic material into the cells of the tree. Gallbladder bacteria can survive in soil for up to two years and form galls in temperatures approaching 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit prevent normal cells from becoming cancerous, but not the formation of galls after transformation. Gallbladder bacteria most often move to new locations on the roots of infected plants, but they can also move into infected soil. The biocontrol bacterium Agrobacterium radiobacter K-84 can be used to protect trees and shrubs from gallbladder infection during planting. Crown galls can attack more than 600 different plants worldwide, including many common vegetables, weeds, trees and shrubs. How Some Plants Protect Themselves from Cancers Crown galls form rough, woody, tumor-like galls on the roots, trunks, and sometimes even branches of many different trees and shrubs. Crown gall is a type of plant cancer caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens (pictured). Galls are disorganized growths or tumors that can form on most parts of trees (and other plants). Galls and other tree cancers can be caused by bacteria, viruses, insects, and other organisms. Wood galls caused by insects are usually tumor-like and occur on leaves or young stems that are shaped so that insects can live within them. Most galls are caused by irritation and/or irritation of plant cells by insects (such as aphids, midges, wasps or mites) feeding or laying eggs. Plants with large galls are usually stunted and are the first to be affected by environmental stress. Roosters can interfere with a tree's nutrient and water supply, reducing overall plant growth and vigor. Sometimes large accumulations inhibit photosynthesis and reduce plant vigor. Gall-producing insects can produce chemicals that act as plant growth regulators, making the plant grow the way it wants. How Gardeners May Treat Cancered Trees For this reason, the gardener may grow new plants from the roots, branches, or leafy parts of the plant. Vigorous trees often confine these fungi to localized lesions and limit their spread to the roots, releasing resin and quickly forming callous tissues. While radiation and other types of DNA damage can cause tumors in plants, mutated cells generally cannot spread from one part of a plant to another as tumors can, thanks to the rigid, interconnected walls that surround plant cells. All of this means that plants are more likely than animals to replace dead cells or tissue, whether the damage comes from animal attack or from radiation. Therefore, a plant can also be cancerous, but cancerous tumors do not pose a lethal threat to a plant because its cells are immobile and lack important complex organs such as humans and animals. Plant Tumors Are Generally Non-lethal Because tumors cannot spread to the entire plant, they can only cause mild discomfort and, at best, specific areas, rather than fatal diseases such as cancer. The tumor is overwhelmingly non-lethal because the plant can bypass the damaged tissue. This is very similar to how some animal tumors destroy or kill by physically destroying plant parts and cutting off blood flow (though they sometimes cause extra blood flow to the area to "feed" the cancer). Fungal pathogens grow inside the wood, and the host tree tries to control it. During rosehip formation, the tree's growth hormones are disrupted when their metabolism is taken over by other organisms (viruses, fungi or bacteria). There is a bacterium called Agrobacterium tumofaciens, which inserts DNA sequences into the plant genome, causing the cells to proliferate, causing these galls to form on trees. Seedlings with many galls and plants with galls completely surrounding the main stem are the worst affected and may die from crown galls.