How do plants live for years?

Plants have stem cells just like us. These small population of cells, called meristems, give plants the ability to grow and alter their growth behaviour at the flip of a switch.

Located in the White Mountains of California is the oldest tree in the world. Methuselah, a Bristlecone pine tree, has seen 48 centuries go by. It was a tiny seedling when the Great Pyramids of Egypt were being built. Beating it by a whopping 70,000 years is ‘Pando’, a single clonal organism made of 75,000 quaking aspen trees. The individual trees aren’t very old, but they’re all connected by an ancient singular root system. Each tree is a part of the larger colony.

Plants have stem cells just like us. These small population of cells, called meristems, give plants the ability to grow and alter their growth behaviour at the flip of a switch. There are meristematic cells for growth in the root tips, shoots, and girth of the plant.

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When conditions are favourable, the soil is well watered and the weather isn’t too hot or cold, the plant will activate its meristematic cells and grow new branches. However, if conditions are dry and arid, too hot or too cold, these cells can go dormant until the plant has adequate resources to grow again.
Researchers found that a set of plant stem cells called the ‘quiescent center’ act as the backup for the plant’s original DNA. This population of cells doesn’t divide very often, and actually suppresses their division. When a cell divides, it risks mutations entering its DNA. The cells in the quiescent center instead seem to act in response to stress stimuli. Basically, this group of cells might serve some protective function when things get hard for the organism.

This flexibility and adaptability help plants weather difficult times much better than any other animal species.

The presence of meristems, especially at the tips or both the root and the shoot allow them to combat their environment. Not being able to move, plants are driven to increase their surface area and deal with the damage that predators and the environment inflict. Over the course of evolutionary development, this led to a modular developmental model.

Animals in the post-embryo phase are fully formed. Most grow up, and their body parts simply enlarge, or they metamorphose into their adult forms. Plants, however, can grow new branches and roots when it needs to, and can also regrow damaged ones. The plant can produce as many branches as necessary. This happens with the root system too. A tree’s root system might occupy four to seven times more surface area than the crown or upper branched part of the tree. This can be a significant surface area when considering large and old trees.

Old trees, with their expansive root system and arboreal cover, are key pieces of ecosystems.

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