Building bridges: mycelium–mediated plant–plant electrophysiological communication

Thomas, Matthew A.; Cooper, Robin L.

doi:10.1080/15592324.2022.2129291

Cited by 4 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Further work will focus on potential metabolic changes in the plant as a result of electrical stimulation, such as increased nectar production. Enticingly, the observed electrical connection may be a result of transmission through fungal mycorrhizal networks, as proposed by Thomas and Cooper [8], and/or direct, low-resistance conduction through wet soil. These findings diversify our view of insectplant interactions, and opens intriguing avenues for future studies into the ability of plants to respond to aerial electric cues and for the encoded information to be communicated with neighbours.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…A voltage drop over distance may be expected as this is true for traditional electrical circuits; however, it is important to note that many factors may be at play here including the soil geochemistry and the biology of the plants involved. Interestingly, measurements show no signal above the noise when the connection to the soil is severed, clearly demonstrating that the electrical signal is transmitted through the soil by some means, potentially through fungal mycorrhizal networks [8] or direct soil conduction.…”

Section: Field Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Electrical communication in plants has been considered in the context of action or variation potentials relaying signals between cells in the same organism [7], and there has been a suggestion that fungal mycelia can mediate plant-plant electrophysiological communication [8]. Direct communication of an electrical stimulus from one plant to another has been given only little attention [9,10], and the stimulus in these studies has been delivered by conductive contact with the plant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electrostatic detection and electric signalling in plants: do flowers act as antennas?

Woodburn,

O’Reilly,

Bentall

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Flying insect pollinators are electrically charged. As bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) and honeybees (Apis mellifera) are almost always positively charged, they present a static electric field that is modulated by the harmonic motion of their wings. Previous research has demonstrated that as a bee approaches a flower, there is a change in the stem potential of the plant, even before the bee lands, suggesting a capacity for flowers to sense the approaching bee through its electric field. Using a combination of laboratory and field studies, we explore the potential for flowers to act as receiving antennas for electrical signals, and to transmit these signals to neighbouring plants. Results show that flowers can detect non-contact electric stimuli, presumably by charge induction, and appear not to be tuned to a specific frequency. In the field, non-contact electric stimuli can also be detected in neighbouring flowers that did not receive the aerial stimulus. This evidence demonstrates the ability of flowers to capture local, aerial electrical signals, and the plant to then transmit signals through the soil to neighbouring plants. This work highlights the significance of environmental electric fields in pollination biology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Field Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electrostatic detection and electric signalling in plants: do flowers act as antennas?

Woodburn,

O’Reilly,

Bentall

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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show abstract

“…Cross-kingdom stress signaling has also been documented extensively in forests where trees and mycelium establish subterranean communication networks (Simard 2018; Liang et al 2020; Fortey 2021; Thomas and Cooper 2022). A possible reason NTE were dismissed for so long as having any relevance in environmental radiobiology may be because the focus was on cell death as an endpoint to demonstrate bystander effects and chromosome damage or lethal mutations to reveal genomic instability (Hei et al 2011; Mothersill et al 2017; Schofield and Kondratowicz 2018), none of which would appear to be important to conserve in evolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing Effects of Low-dose Radiation Exposure

Mothersill,

Seymour,

Cocchetto

et al. 2024

Health Physics

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It is now well accepted that the mechanisms induced by low-dose exposures to ionizing radiation (LDR) are different from those occurring after high-dose exposures. However, the downstream effects of these mechanisms are unclear as are the quantitative relationships between exposure, effect, harm, and risk. In this paper, we will discuss the mechanisms known to be important with an overall emphasis on how so-called “non-targeted effects” (NTE) communicate and coordinate responses to LDR. Targeted deposition of ionizing radiation energy in cells causing DNA damage is still regarded as the dominant trigger leading to all downstream events whether targeted or non-targeted. We regard this as an over-simplification dating back to formal target theory. It ignores that last 100 y of biological research into stress responses and signaling mechanisms in organisms exposed to toxic substances, including ionizing radiation. We will provide evidence for situations where energy deposition in cellular targets alone cannot be plausible as a mechanism for LDR effects. An example is where the energy deposition takes place in an organism not receiving the radiation dose. We will also discuss how effects after LDR depend more on dose rate and radiation quality rather than actual dose, which appears rather irrelevant. Finally, we will use recent evidence from studies of cataract and melanoma induction to suggest that after LDR, post-translational effects, such as protein misfolding or defects in energy metabolism or mitochondrial function, may dominate the etiology and progression of the disease. A focus on such novel pathways may open the way to successful prophylaxis and development of new biomarkers for better risk assessment after low dose exposures.

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“…A recent paper from Thomas and Cooper 1 purports to show the transmission of electrical wound signals from plant to plant via a mycorrhizal fungus. As the authors note, the investigations were designed to address the relationship between the filamentous network of mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots, a relationship that led to notions of a “wood wide web”, communication between trees through fungal connections, and the “Mother Tree” concept 2 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%