Resurrection plant

A resurrection plant is a plant that can survive extreme dehydration of its vegetative tissues and resume normal metabolic activity upon rehydration. These plants exhibit desiccation tolerance and are often described as poikilohydric, allowing them to lose more than 90% of their cellular water while remaining viable for extended periods, sometimes months or years.

Resurrection plants occur across multiple evolutionary lineages, including ferns, lycophytes, and flowering plants; this suggests convergent evolution under strong environmental selection pressures. These plants represent a rare adaptation distinct from drought tolerance. Unlike seeds or spores, which are commonly desiccation-tolerant, resurrection plants retain this ability in fully developed vegetative tissues.

Mechanisms of desiccation tolerance

Desiccation tolerance is common in seeds but rare in the vegetative tissues of most land plants. Resurrection plants undergo extensive physiological and molecular changes during dehydration, including the shutdown of metabolism and photosynthesis.

Cellular structures are stabilized through the accumulation of sugars such as sucrose and raffinose, which replace water and form glass-like matrices that preserve membranes and proteins. Protective proteins, including molecular chaperones and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins, help maintain the structure of macromolecules during drying and rehydration. Antioxidant systems are also activated to mitigate damage from reactive oxygen species generated during stress.