Studies on plant electrophysiology are mostly focused on specific traits of action potentials (APs) and/or variation potentials (VPs), often in single cells. Inspired by the complexity of the signaling network in plants and by analogies with some traits of neurons in human brains, we have sought for evidences of high complexity in the electrical dynamics of plant signaling, beyond APs and VPs responses. Thus, from EEG-like data analyses of soybean plants, we showed consistent evidences of chaotic dynamics in the electrical time series. Furthermore, we have found that the dynamic complexity of electrical signals is affected by the plant physiological conditions, decreasing when plant was stressed. Surprisingly, but not unlikely, we have observed that, after stimuli, electrical spikes arise following a power law distribution, which is indicative of self-organized criticality (SOC). Since, as far as we know, these were the first evidences of chaos and SOC in plant electrophysiology, we have asked follow-up questions and we have proposed new hypotheses, seeking for improving our understanding about these findings.
24Drought stress can imprint marks in plants after a previous exposure, leading to a 25 permissive state that facilitates a more effective response to subsequent stress events. 26 Such stress imprints would benefit plants obtained from progenitors previously exposed 27 to drought. Herein, our hypothesis was that daughter plants obtained from mother 28 plants previously exposed to water deficit will perform better under water deficit as 29 compared to those obtained from mothers that did not face stressful conditions. 30 Sugarcane mother plants were grown under well-hydrated conditions or subjected to 31 three cycles of water deficit by water withholding. Then, daughter plants produced 32 through vegetative propagation were subjected to water deficit. Leaf gas exchange was 33 reduced under water deficit and daughters from mothers that experienced water deficit 34 presented a faster recovery of CO 2 assimilation and higher instantaneous carboxylation 35 efficiency after rehydration as compared to daughters from mothers that did not face 36 water deficit. Plants obtained from mother plants that faced water deficit showed the 37 highest leaf proline concentration under water deficit as well as higher leaf H 2 O 2 38 concentration and leaf ascorbate peroxidase activity regardless of water regime. Under 39 well-watered conditions, daughters from mothers that faced stressful conditions 40 presented higher root H 2 O 2 concentration and root catalase activity than ones from 41 mothers that did not experience water shortage. Such physiological changes were 42 associated with improvements in leaf area and shoot and root dry matter accumulation 43 in daughters from stressed mothers. Our results suggest that root H 2 O 2 concentration is 44 a chemical signal associated with stress memory and improved sugarcane growth. Such 3 45 findings bring a new perspective to sugarcane production systems, in which stress 46 memory can be explored for improving drought tolerance in rainfed areas. 47 48
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.