Metabolic traffic lights in plants

Abstract

Have you ever wondered what happens inside a leaf? Many of you have probably thought that little, very little, apart from seeming/appearing to us as beautiful ornamentations of our houses, fields and forests with their beautiful colours and exuberant shapes. Although that idea that we may have (oh yes! prejudices...) can be transformed into fascination if we stop for a moment to meditate about it. Think that the fruits, which we like so much, are full of sugars, vitamins and a multitude of nutrients beneficial for our health. But where does all that come from? From the leaves, the soil, the air, the water and the sun. It seems incredible, but all this metamorphosis of such primary elements is done by the leaves. And, furthermore, everything must be done in a very coordinated manner, in an almost perfect balance that has had millions of years of learning. This coordination requires precise control of what enters and leaves (what we call metabolites) in the factories of the plant cell (the chloroplasts). This constant traffic of metabolites, which travel along routes similar to highways, roads or the streets of our cities, need control, traffic signs, traffic lights and traffic guards, all of them molecular (and which sometimes receive names that you instantly forget). Well, all that, and much more, is happening right now inside the leaves of any of the plants within your sight (it happens right in front of you).