Electrical signals in avocado trees

Abstract

Plant responses to environmental changes are associated with electrical excitability and signaling; automatic and continuous measurements of electrical potential differences (DeltaEP) between plant tissues can be effectively used to study information transport mechanisms and physiological responses that result from external stimuli on plants. The generation and conduction of electrochemical impulses within plant different tissues and organs, resulting from abiotic and biotic changes in environmental conditions is reported. In this work, electrical potential differences are monitored continuously using Ag/AgCl microelectrodes, inserted 5 mm deep into sapwood at two positions in the trunks of several Avocado trees. Electrodes are referenced to a non polarisable Ag/AgCl microelectrode installed 20 cm deep in the soil. Systematic patterns of DeltaEP during absolute darkness, day-night cycles and different conditions of soil water availability are discussed as alternative tools to assess early plant stress conditions.

Electrophysiological assessment of plant status outside a Faraday cage using supervised machine learning

“…2e). These EP variations are consistent to those reported in avocado during water deficit conditions 20 . Our results demonstrate that in severe conditions of water deficit, monitoring the electrical variations is more effective than leaf turgor (ZIM sensor) during the recovery phase.…”

“…This is tightly linked to the sap and photosynthetic flow. These daily variations are similar (pattern and magnitude) to those recorded under controlled conditions on avocadoes or plum and strongly suggest a link with nycthemeral or circadian rhythm; 20,24,31 however this needs further study.

Figure 2Electrical potential variations on tomato is modified in response to water deficit Hydroponic tomato plants in soilless culture are grown in the greenhouse. ( a ), Representative long-term recording of electric potential (EP) shows cyclic variations in controlled conditions.

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Electrical Signaling, Photosynthesis and Systemic Acquired Acclimation

“…However, in “ordinary” plants, a variety of electrical phenomena have also been described. Various treatments can trigger a specific pattern of changes in the plasma membrane electrical potential of Arabidopsis (Szechyńska-Hebda et al, 2010 ), Vicia faba (Dziubińska et al, 2003a ; Zimmermann et al, 2009 ), Triticum aestivum (Dziubińska et al, 2003b ), Zea mays (Grams et al, 2007 ), as well as in tree species like Salix (Fromm and Spanswick, 1993 ), Populus (Lautner et al, 2005 ), and Persea (Oyarce and Gurovich, 2010 ).…”

Biohybrid systems for environmental intelligence on living plants

“…Furthermore, in-situ data processing will be applied, so that the minimum amount of information should be exchanged within the network nodes which constituted a challenged for IT technologies together with data processing and application of AI for social good (Figure 1). In WatchPlant, these major challenges will be addressed with novel concepts focused on energy-efficiency systems and new phytosensing implementation, including chemical sensors for sap, but also sensors for relevant plant features such as photosynthesis activity, sap flow and electrophysiology (Volkov, 2012;de Toledo et al, 2019;Oyarce et al, 2010). Additionally, these plant features will be combined with environmental sensors for temperature, humidity, a number of relevant gases (e.g., NO2, O3, SO2), and particulates (e.g., PM2.5, black carbon, ultra-fine particles) to obtain a complex data matrix of plant and environment features that should be processed later on.…”