Plants communicate with each other amid threat for the first time in viral video

The video footage shows undamaged plants receiving messages from their distressed neighbours. (Representational)

A team of Japanese scientists unveiled the secret language of plants, capturing real-time footage that shows them communicate with each other. This awe-inspiring discovery sheds light on the intricate ways in which plants warn each other of impending dangers, bringing forth a new understanding of their interconnected world.

Led by molecular biologist Masatsugu Toyota from Saitama University, the team, which included PhD student Yuri Aratani and postdoctoral researcher Takuya Uemura, delved into the realm of plant communication.

Published in the journal ‘Nature Communications’, their study reveals the remarkable ability of plants to perceive and respond to airborne compounds, akin to smells, released by their distressed counterparts.

The researchers focused on how undamaged plants reacted to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants subjected to insect damage or other forms of harm.

If #plants could talk, they’d do so thru chemical signals about predators (aphids, caterpillars, gardeners with shears/pesticides…). Plants CAN talk (which we’ve known), but molecular biologists at Saitama University in Japan caught it 1st on film. https://t.co/44gXzMerK5 pic.twitter.com/DcLAlV1iti

— HoneyGirlGrows (@HoneyGirlGrows) January 20, 2024

To capture this communication in action, the scientists devised an ingenious method. An air pump, intricately connected to a container housing leaves and caterpillars, along with another box containing Arabidopsis thaliana, a common weed from the mustard family, was employed.

The researchers allowed caterpillars to feed on leaves from tomato plants and Arabidopsis thaliana, observing the responses of undamaged Arabidopsis plants to these danger cues.

The video footage shows undamaged plants receiving messages from their distressed neighbours. Responding with bursts of calcium signaling that rippled across their outstretched leaves, the plants displayed a remarkable ability to decipher and react to the signals of imminent threats.

The researchers identified two compounds, Z-3-HAL and E-2-HAL, within the airborne compounds that induced calcium signals in Arabidopsis.

In a parallel exploration, the team applied a similar technique to measure calcium signals released by Mimosa pudica (touch-me-not) plants, known for their rapid leaf movements in response to touch.