Ordinary tansy, those yellow buttons on tall stems familiar to everyone, turned out to be a surprisingly persistent flower. Scientists at the D.I. Ivanovsky SFedU Academy of Biology and Medicine have found out that it not only survives on polluted land, but also develops a complex multi-level protection system. A study on this phenomenon, supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Russian Science Foundation project No. 22-77-10097-P), has been published in the prestigious international journal Plants, which is in the first quartile (Q1), that is, in the highest league of world science.

"What makes tansy exceptional is its selective accumulation strategy," explained Irshad Ahmad, PhD, Head of the Laboratory of Ecological Soil Monitoring. "In polluted soils, we observed the accumulation of metals in plants due to an increase in the content of mobile compounds of these metals in the rhizosphere, the soil directly influenced by plant roots."

Tansy behaves like an experienced economist: it reduces the cost of some protective mechanisms (polyphenols) and simultaneously enhances others (enzymes). It's like reconfiguring all the body's systems to mitigate the toxic effects.

The most amazing discovery awaited scientists under an electron microscope. Even when serious damage is visible — for example, deformed chloroplasts, those very green "solar panels" of plants — tansy continues to grow actively and gain green mass. As emphasized in the study, the activity of key antioxidant enzymes in the shoots of the plant has sharply increased: superoxide dismutase, guaiacol peroxidase, catalase. The content of glutathione, the most important non-enzymatic antioxidant, has increased. At the same time, the plant consciously redirects resources from phenolic compounds to enzymatic detoxification mechanisms. And even despite severe ultrastructural damage, Tanacetum vulgare retains high biomass productivity.

In simple words: tansy continues to bloom and gain green mass even when its internal cells are injured. It doesn't just survive — it thrives on polluted soil.

This research is important not only from the point of view of fundamental science. Understanding the protective mechanisms of tansy may help in the future to create crops that are resistant to pollution, or use the plant itself to clean the soil using a method called phytoremediation.

"The research that we are conducting within the framework of the Russian Science Foundation project is also of key importance for the development of our strategic technological project "Technologies of Soil Bioengineering". This is one of the three key areas of the SFedU under the Priority 2030 program. Understanding how plants cope with toxic stress allows us to manage soil health in the future and create sustainable agroecosystems," says Professor Tatiana Minkina, Head of the Department of Soil Science and Land Resource Assessment at SFedU Academy of Biology and Medicine, Head of the SFedU Priority 2030 STP.