Discovery of the female sex hormone progesterone found in plants

Scientists are reporting the first discovery of the female sex hormone in plants. Until now scientists only thought that the hormone was found in animals. Progesterone in a steroid that is secreted form the ovaries, and it prepares the uterus for pregnancy.

The biological role of the hormone in mammals has been extensively studies, but the reason for its presence in plants is less apparent. They think that the hormone was an ancient bioregulator that has evolved billions of years ago, before modern plants and animals.

Scientists had identified hormones like progesterone in plants, but they have not identified the actual hormone in plants until now. Guido F. Pauli and his colleagues used nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy to detect progesterone form the leaves of the Common Walnut or English Walnut tree.

The way this is related to biology is that this discovery could change the scientific understanding of evolution and the function of progesterone. It also is related because it is talking about a hormone, a hormone that is usually found in animals, that was found in a plant. A plant has no use for this hormone so helps us understand evolution better.

This article is also important because it lets us know that we are not the only things that have progesterone, that other things can possibly have it too. it makes us think that evolution is not that simple, that what scientist discover everyday makes us look at evolution in a different way.

Article Link
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/02/04/first_discovery_of_the_female_sex_hormone_progesterone_in_a_plant.html