hey guys, it's me, hit rapper eminem and totally not some a.i. generated voice

anywho

today i am going to tell you about something very cool and epic called thigmotropism

thigmotropism is an occurance in plants where they change their or alter their shape in response to a physical stimulus

this can be vine curving around a branch to gain better support,

or a venus fly trap shutting its mouth to trap an unsuspecting insect

but what exactly causes this?

thigmotropism involves a part of a plant coming into contact with something, typically its leaves or roots

no matter the part, it all boils down to a specific type of cell on the cell's surface

these cells, when directly touched, release the ligands ethylene, which moves across the cell, and auxin, which uses external receptors

this results in a paracrine reaction which causes the plant to move towards the source of the contact

fun fact!

despite reacting to touch, the mimosa pudica is not an example of thigmotropism

this is because when touched, the plant just shuts all its leaves instead of moving towards the source of the touch

because of this, it is actually considered a nastic response, which is a non-direction based response to touch

getting back to thigmotropism