Poison common ivy and stinging nettle can get a lot of pain , but they have nothing on the Gympie - Gympie tree , whose leaves can put people into intensive care and cause agony that lasts for day or even months . There are unverified account statement of animals demand to be put down after close encounters with Gympie - Gympie tree , but the geographic expedition of its toxins has only just begun . The first study surprised scientist , revealing these tree acquire molecules more like certain beast malice than known plant defenses .
Predictably , Gympie - Gympie trees fall from Australia , where there is even a town key out after them . They ’re one of several stinging tree of the Dendrocnide genus line up in Queensland but mystify a especial menace by being vernacular near to more intemperately populated areas like the Gold Coast hinterland , rather than curtail to the tropics . Dr Irina Vetterof the University of Queensland order IFLScience relate species are known from Thailand and the Philippines . These have yet to be studied , so Australia ’s proud tradition of having the most deadly specimens of everything currently extends to tree .
“ Like other bite plants such as nettles , the giant stinging tree is cover in needle - like appendage shout trichomes that are around five millimeter in distance – the trichomes await like fine hair , but actually act like hypodermic phonograph needle that shoot toxin when they make tangency with cutis , ” Vetter allege in astatement .
However , the pain is much more long - survive because or else of histamines and formic acid used by temperate zone plants , the Gympie - Gympie expend neurotoxic protein .
InScience Advances , Vetter report that these neurotoxins are a new class of miniproteins , naming them gympietides after the tree diagram .
“ Although they come from a works , the gympietides are similar to spider and cone escargot toxin in the way they fold into their 3D molecular structures and target the same infliction receptors , ” shesaid .
This is ostensibly a rare lesson of convergent evolution span the brute and industrial plant kingdoms . The pain they induce is likely a result of change sodium channels in the nerve cell of animals that bear on their leave-taking , which can take a long time to recover .
This means realise gympietides could have implications far beyond easing the pain of those who are stung . work out how these molecules acquire such long - lasting effects could help us occur to grips with the still - deep nature of chronic pain .
“ We might be able to design speck that block pain signal and therefore make good painkillers ” for lasting pain , Vetter told IFLScience .
Vetter still does not know why Gympie - Gympie and their congener developed such brawny neurotoxin . Some have chew over they pretend as insecticides , but Vetter is questioning having seen farewell good devoured by beetle . A defense against herbivorous vertebrates makes more sentience , but Vetter says there are rumors of pademelons exhaust the leaves . If so , this would have a whole new deference for these absurdly cute members of the kangaroo family since , as Vetter articulate , “ I would n’t be place my mouth near [ the tree ] . ”
