Israeli study shows: Plants 'talk' through the roots
The Ben-Gurion University team discovers plants can transmit distress signals to each other through their roots.
The Ben-Gurion University team discovered that plants can transmit distress signals to each other through their roots. An injured plant "communicates" to a healthy one, which in turn relays the signal to neighboring plants, possibly enhancing the other plants' ability to deal with stress in the future, according to the study, recently published in the periodical PLoS (Public Library of Science One).
The researchers, headed by plant biologist Ariel Novoplansky of the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, exposed five garden pea plants to drought conditions. They found that the stressed plant closes its leaves to prevent water loss. Meanwhile its roots release signals that caused neighboring plants, which were not exposed to drought conditions, to react as if they had been. The study, "Rumor Has It ...: Relay Communication of Stress Cues in Plants," shows the unstressed plants transmitted the information on to other healthy plants. Preliminary results indicate that plants that receive the distress signals will survive better if exposed to drought at a later stage in their life. Novoplansky and his team found that the distress signals are passed on not only from the injured plant to the adjacent healthy one, but also from the healthy one to its neighbors, which transmit it onwards, all through the plants' roots. Previous studies have shown that plants communicate through their leaves or stems, but the Israeli team revealed "underground" communication through roots. Novoplansky believes the signals released by plants are generic and capable of passing from one plant species to another.