What is the most likely hypothesis for the presence of TRP channel agonists in plants?

Question

A.  to speed up or slow down chemical reactions in the plant
B.  to warm or cool the plant, depending on the season
C.  to discourage feeding by herbivorous insects or mammals
D.  to encourage human cultivation


Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?

Gather Content
What do you already know about TRP channels? What other information is related to the question?

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?


Answer 1

C.  to discourage feeding by herbivorous insects or mammals

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        · Why do plants have TRP agonists?
What type of thinking is required?
            o This is an evaluate question because you have to use logic to evaluate potential reasons that TRP channels exist in plants, without the answer being provided directly in the text.

Gather Content
What do you already know about TRP channels? What other information is related to the question?
        · You already know that TRP channels are found in nociceptors that respond to temperature changes. You also may recall that the first TRP receptor discovered responds to the chemical capsaicin, which is found in chili peppers, as well as to heat. Thus, when you eat spicy foods with capsaicin it provides a sensation of heat and pain. Plants have evolved to contain TRP agonists like capsaicin for the same reason some plants have evolved toxic and bitter compounds- to keep animals from eating them.

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        · TRP channel agonists would not speed up or slow down chemical reactions in the plant, especially since the plants do not have receptors for the agonists (but animals do). For the same reason, they would not warm or cool the plant, but give a warm or cool sensation to animals who consume it. These sensations can be intense and painful, causing the animal (either herbivorous insects or mammals)to spit the plant out and avoid it in the future. While compounds like capsaicin found in hot peppers have been artificially selected to produce larger amounts of the compound for human consumption, plants like peppers did not evolve this compound for human purposes, but for its own survival.

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        o Answering this question correctly depended on your ability to weigh and  judge, or evaluate, which the potential effects of TRP channel agonist on plants. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that TRP channel agonists like capsaicin bind to TRP channels to provide a sensation of a temperature change, even though the body’s temperature does not really change? Did you have trouble weighing the options that these compounds were evolutionary derived for plant survival relative to artificially selected by man for human cultivation/consumption to determine the correct answer?