Fluid Mechanics of Defense: Capillary Flow of Tomato Glandular Secretions 🍅🧪

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUjaD9rcRzA

Original video: https://youtu.be/kUjaD9rcRzA

Published on: 10 June 2025

Gain a microscopic look at the fluid properties that power a plant's defense system. This video demonstrates the capillary flow of glandular fluid into a glass micropipette immediately following the rupture of a Type VI glandular trichome.

By using a glass microcapillary tube as a precise force sensor and collection tool, researchers can observe how the specialized metabolites—stored in an intracellular cavity—behave once the protective cuticle layer is breached. The rapid movement of the fluid into the pipette is driven by capillary action, a phenomenon that also occurs when these secretions wet the bodies of attacking insects like thrips.

Keywords: plant biomechanics, plant–insect interactions, trichomes

Citation:

Jared Popowski, Lucas Warma, Alicia Abarca Cifuentes, Petra Bleeker, Maziyar Jalaal, Glandular trichome rupture in tomato plants is an ultra-fast and sensitive defense mechanism against insects, Journal of Experimental Botany, Volume 76, Issue 21, 25 November 2025, Pages 6508–6519, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf257

Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0 - Creative Commons