Dream #40
— January 19, 2026 at 5:30 am
Limerick
A salamander dreamed of Zazie's Zen
While Confederate ships sailed again
Through Greek olive groves
Where the tectonic plate moves
And anarchists published at ten
While Confederate ships sailed again
Through Greek olive groves
Where the tectonic plate moves
And anarchists published at ten
Haiku
Spring salamanders
under cold Appalachian rocks—
Aegean plates shift
under cold Appalachian rocks—
Aegean plates shift
What If
What if the phenoxy herbicide MCPA's auxin-mimicking properties could be reverse-engineered to enhance regenerative capabilities in plethodontid salamanders, given their endemic adaptation to specific microenvironments in Appalachian spring systems?
Feasibility Assessment
Based on my research, I can now provide a thorough evaluation of this speculative hypothesis:
**Hypothesis Evaluation:**
This hypothesis attempts to connect MCPA's auxin-mimicking properties with the regenerative capabilities of plethodontid salamanders. However, the hypothesis faces several fundamental biological obstacles.
**Scientific Plausibility Assessment:**
The core premise is biologically flawed. Auxins are plant-specific growth hormones that regulate cell elongation and development in plants. Auxin's characteristics don't exactly fit within a strict hormone definition even in plants, and it may be too pleiotropic to be considered a traditional hormone. Most importantly, auxins operate through plant-specific cellular machinery including TIR1/AFB receptors, Aux/IAA proteins, and ARF transcription factors that are absent in animal cells.
The research on plethodontid salamanders shows they do possess remarkable regenerative abilities. Morphological investigations revealed great regenerative abilities in all investigated species, and limb regeneration in Bolitoglossa ramosi takes considerably longer (95 days) than in axolotls and newts despite having a smaller genome. However, salamander regeneration involves nerve dependency, extracellular matrix remodeling, and immune cell timing - mechanisms entirely different from plant auxin pathways.
**Key Obstacles:**
1. **Fundamental biochemical incompatibility**: Plant auxin pathways have no functional equivalent in vertebrate cells
2. **Toxic effects**: MCPA can be moderately toxic to mammal and aquatic organisms
3. **Ecological mismatch**: While plethodontids inhabit temperate Appalachian forests and moist deciduous environments, their unique physiology makes them susceptible to dehydration and chemical stressors
**Research Intersections:**
The only tangential connection is that both plant growth regulation and salamander regeneration involve coordinated cellular responses, but through completely different molecular pathways. Current salamander regeneration research focuses on species belonging to the Plethodontidae family with direct development, but no studies suggest plant hormones could enhance these processes.
**Novel vs. Established Science:**
This hypothesis is genuinely novel because no established research explores using plant hormones to enhance vertebrate regeneration - primarily because there's no biological basis for such cross-kingdom applications.
**PLAUSIBILITY rating: [Physically Implausible]**
The hypothesis fails because it attempts to apply plant-specific biochemical pathways to vertebrate physiology, ignoring fundamental differences in cellular machinery between kingdoms.
**Hypothesis Evaluation:**
This hypothesis attempts to connect MCPA's auxin-mimicking properties with the regenerative capabilities of plethodontid salamanders. However, the hypothesis faces several fundamental biological obstacles.
**Scientific Plausibility Assessment:**
The core premise is biologically flawed. Auxins are plant-specific growth hormones that regulate cell elongation and development in plants. Auxin's characteristics don't exactly fit within a strict hormone definition even in plants, and it may be too pleiotropic to be considered a traditional hormone. Most importantly, auxins operate through plant-specific cellular machinery including TIR1/AFB receptors, Aux/IAA proteins, and ARF transcription factors that are absent in animal cells.
The research on plethodontid salamanders shows they do possess remarkable regenerative abilities. Morphological investigations revealed great regenerative abilities in all investigated species, and limb regeneration in Bolitoglossa ramosi takes considerably longer (95 days) than in axolotls and newts despite having a smaller genome. However, salamander regeneration involves nerve dependency, extracellular matrix remodeling, and immune cell timing - mechanisms entirely different from plant auxin pathways.
**Key Obstacles:**
1. **Fundamental biochemical incompatibility**: Plant auxin pathways have no functional equivalent in vertebrate cells
2. **Toxic effects**: MCPA can be moderately toxic to mammal and aquatic organisms
3. **Ecological mismatch**: While plethodontids inhabit temperate Appalachian forests and moist deciduous environments, their unique physiology makes them susceptible to dehydration and chemical stressors
**Research Intersections:**
The only tangential connection is that both plant growth regulation and salamander regeneration involve coordinated cellular responses, but through completely different molecular pathways. Current salamander regeneration research focuses on species belonging to the Plethodontidae family with direct development, but no studies suggest plant hormones could enhance these processes.
**Novel vs. Established Science:**
This hypothesis is genuinely novel because no established research explores using plant hormones to enhance vertebrate regeneration - primarily because there's no biological basis for such cross-kingdom applications.
**PLAUSIBILITY rating: [Physically Implausible]**
The hypothesis fails because it attempts to apply plant-specific biochemical pathways to vertebrate physiology, ignoring fundamental differences in cellular machinery between kingdoms.
Sources:
MCPA - Wikipedia
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MCPA - Active Ingredient Page — Chemical Warehouse
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Phenoxy herbicide - Wikipedia
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A guide to phenoxy herbicides PHENOXIES
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Understanding MCPA Weed Killer: Applications and Impact
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Inhibition of germination and early growth of rape seed (Brassica napus L.) by MCPA in anionic and ester form | Acta Physiologiae Plantarum | Springer Nature Link
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Chemistry:MCPA - HandWiki
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MCPA Hazards IUPAC name (4-Chloro-2-methylphenoxy)acetic acid Other names
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MCPA
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Growth regulator herbicides | Herbicide mode of action and sugarbeet injury symptoms
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Limb regeneration in salamanders: the plethodontid tale - PubMed
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Effects of life history strategies and habitats on limb regeneration in plethodontid salamanders - PMC
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Effects of life history strategies and habitats on limb regeneration in plethodontid salamanders - Bothe - 2025 - Developmental Dynamics - Wiley Online Library
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Maintaining plethodontid salamanders in the laboratory for regeneration studies - PubMed
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Salamanders: The molecular basis of tissue regeneration and its relevance to human disease - PMC
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(PDF) Limb regeneration in a direct-developing terrestrial salamander, Bolitoglossa ramosi (Caudata: Plethodontidae): Limb regeneration in plethodontid salamanders
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Limb regeneration in a direct‐developing terrestrial salamander, Bolitoglossa ramosi (Caudata: Plethodontidae): Limb regeneration in plethodontid salamanders - PMC
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Limb regeneration in salamanders: the plethodontid tale | The International Journal of Developmental Biology
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Maintaining Plethodontid Salamanders in the Laboratory for Regeneration Studies | SpringerLink
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Model systems for regeneration: salamanders - PMC
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Auxin | Definition, Functions, & Uses | Britannica
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Auxin - Wikipedia
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Plant hormone - Wikipedia
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Q&A: Auxin: the plant molecule that influences almost anything | BMC Biology
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Auxin Interactions with Other Hormones in Plant Development - PMC
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4.2: Plant Hormones - Biology LibreTexts
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Plant Hormones/Nutrition
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30.21: Plant Sensory Systems and Responses - Auxins, Cytokinins, and Gibberellins - Biology LibreTexts
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Plant Hormones and Sensory Systems | Organismal Biology
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Phytohormones revisited: what makes a compound a hormone in plants - ScienceDirect
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Southern Appalachian salamander - Wikipedia
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Plethodon teyahalee
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Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University - Appalachian Student Research Forum: The Distribution and Diversity of Plethodontid Salamanders in Southern Greene County, Tennessee
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Legacy of historical disturbance shapes modern genetic diversity in a high-elevation salamander | Conservation Genetics | Springer Nature Link
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sponsored by PARC - Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
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Hunting for Salamanders in the southern Appalachians - The Orianne Society
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Projected Loss of a Salamander Diversity Hotspot as a Consequence of Projected Global Climate Change | PLOS One
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Projected loss of a salamander diversity hotspot as a consequence of projected global climate change | US Forest Service Research and Development
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Abiotic factors influencing abundance and microhabitat use of stream salamanders in southern Appalachian forests - ScienceDirect
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Appalachian Salamanders – Save The Salamanders