Zombie Plants’: Species That Come Back to Life After Long Periods of Drought

In the 1970s, as a child in South Africa, Jill Farrant noticed something remarkable: some plants around her seemed to come back to life after enduring long periods without water.

Later, Farrant discovered that these species could survive without hydration for up to six months or more. During drought, their leaves would become dry, brittle, and turn brown. However, when watered, they would turn green within hours. And within a day, they would fully recover their original shape and resume photosynthesis.

This incredible resurrection ability is common in mosses, ferns, and other non-flowering plants. However, among the 352,000 known species of flowering plants, only 240 possess this resurrection trait.

These unique species are scattered across different branches of the evolutionary tree, with no close genetic relationship to one another, indicating that each developed the ability to survive drought independently.

Mainly found in rocky slopes or gravelly soils in South Africa, Australia, and South America, these plants have surprisingly similar mechanisms for coping with water scarcity. It is as if they possess an ancient genetic toolbox that they activate when facing extreme drought conditions.

Today, Jill Farrant is a professor specializing in desiccation tolerance at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. For more than 30 years, she has dedicated her work to studying these extraordinary plants. According to her and other scientists, the genetic secrets of these species could be essential for tackling agricultural challenges brought on by climate change.

Most plants die when they lose between 10% and 30% of their water content. Resurrection plants, however, can survive even after losing more than 95% of their water.

Carlos Messina, a maize scientist at the University of Florida, explains that surviving drought is not the only important factor. How these plants regenerate after a period without water is also critical.

Corn, for example, can resist drought, but when it rehydrates, its leaves do not regain their original structure, disrupting the flow of water and carbon dioxide, which hinders plant growth even after the rains return.

On the other hand, resurrection plants manage to restore their original structure after drought, maintaining their growth intact. Messina points out that if this ability could be replicated in corn, agricultural productivity could be significantly increased.

The secret of these plants lies in replacing lost water with sugars, such as sucrose, which creates a glassy, viscous substance within their cells, slowing down chemical reactions and protecting tissues.

This process, known as vitrification, is similar to the one used by desiccation-tolerant animals like tardigrades (also known as water bears) and brine shrimp eggs, also known as sea monkeys.

During this process, the plants deactivate their photosynthetic system, entering a state of dormancy. To protect their proteins and cellular membranes, they produce special proteins called chaperones, which help preserve cellular structure under adverse conditions.

Farrant states that the way these plants preserve their tissues is impressive—almost a true miracle of nature.

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