An entire hidden world has finally been revealed thanks to a team of molecular biologists from Saitama University in Japan. The researchers filmed plants of Arabidopsis thaliana, a common weed in the mustard family, that responded to danger signals from nearby damaged plants.
This pioneering research provides unprecedented insight into how plants interact and react to environmental stimuli, revealing surprising aspects of their existence.
The discovery of unexpected communication between Arabidopsis
The study published in Nature Communications. (I link it here) has brought to light a crucial and hitherto unknown aspect of plant communication. Which? Not only are plants capable of sending danger messages, but they also have a sophisticated system of receiving and responding to such signals.
The research team, led by Yuri Aratani e Takuya Uemura, used an innovative method that involved the use of pumps to transfer volatile compounds emitted by damaged plants to their unaffected neighbors, observing the response of the latter through fluorescence microscopes.
The use of biological sensors to track communication signals
The plants used in the experiments had been genetically modified to contain biosensors that fluoresce upon detection of an influx of calcium ions, a signaling mechanism also common in human cells.
This technique allowed us to visualize in real time how Arabidopsis plants reacted to volatile compounds, revealing calcium signaling activity that spread throughout the leaves.
Identification of key compounds in plant communication
By analyzing the airborne compounds, the researchers identified two substances, Z-3-HAL ed E-2-HAL, which induces calcium diffusion signals in Arabidopsis. They also determined which cells responded first to danger signals by engineering Arabidopsis plants with fluorescent sensors exclusively in guard, mesophyll or epidermal cells.
This discovery highlights the complexity and sophistication of the plant communication network.
'Talking' Arabidopsis, research implications and future steps
The research, in addition to providing new information on inter-plant communication, paves the way for further investigations into how plants perceive and respond to their surrounding environment. This discovery could have significant implications in agriculture, understanding ecological interactions and protecting crops from pest and disease damage.
It is fascinating to think about how, even in a silent environment such as a garden or a field, a constant conversation takes place, invisible to human eyes but crucial for the survival of plants. Research on this 'language' botanist it could also lead to breakthrough innovations in agriculture and environmental protection.
