News Plants

A bacteria-based Band-Aid helps plants heal their wounds

Possible agricultural applications include facilitating grafting or preserving cut plant material

A petri dish on a black background holds three round plant clippings, two with little patches on them. The bottom one, treated with a new plant Band-Aid, is visibly sprouting roots while the other two (one untreated and one with a different kind of patch on it) don't appear to be growing.

A plant cutting in a petri dish flourished when treated with a bacterial cellulose patch (bottom). The cutting developed roots faster than one with a plant-derived cellulose patch (top right) and one left untreated (left).

Montserrat Capellades, Alejandro Alonso-Díaz and Ángel Sánchez/CRAG

By Javier Barbuzano

Got a plant with a boo-boo? Try a plant Band-Aid.