10 October 2018 13 2K Report

This is my understanding. If it is wrong, please correct me.

So animals have an adaptive immune system where when they come into contact with a foreign substance they create antibodies to it and these antibodies are very specific to the target. Foreign substances tagged with these antibodies are subject to destruction via natural killer cells, macrophages, etc ...

However, plants do not have antibody production so they should not be able to recognize foreign threats (at least in the specific way that animals do). Plants suffer from many diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi. But not all plants die from the constant exposure to these microorganisms, therefore plants must have some kind of immune system. How do plants protect themselves if they can not recognize disease causing agents?

I have read that plants can produce antibodies through the use of recombinant DNA technology of an animal derived antibody transformed into the plant cells. But I don't believe plants can be trained though exposure to produce antibodies.

Hmm ...

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