Because these toxins are also poisonous to the plants that make them, they are formed only when the plant has been wounded. The way this works is that protoxins called glucosinolates are stored in the plant’s cells like bombs with unlit fuses in a bunker. Mustard plants also produce glucosidase enzymes, which are stored in different cells. These enzymes are like a box of matches. When glucosinolate and glucosidase come into contact as an herbivore begins to munch away, the fuse is lit and the bomb explodes, transforming the glucosinolate into the toxic mustard oil. This is why it takes a bit
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