On-line control of movement in plants

Ceccarini, Francesco; Guerra, Silvia; Peressotti, Alessandro; Peressotti, Francesca; Bulgheroni, Maria; Baccinelli, Walter; Bonato, Bianca; Castiello, Umberto

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.06.160

Cited by 23 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The results speak clearly. Not only did the plants acknowledged the presence of the support, but they exhibited a different kinematic patterning depending on stimulus thickness ( [2]; see also [36,37]; see Supplementary video 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Plants Move Like Animals? A Three-Dimensional Stereovision Analysis of Movement in Plants

Simonetti

Bulgheroni

Guerra

et al. 2021

Animals

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In this article we adapt a methodology customarily used to investigate movement in animals to study the movement of plants. The targeted movement is circumnutation, a helical organ movement widespread among plants. It is variable due to a different magnitude of the trajectory (amplitude) exhibited by the organ tip, duration of one cycle (period), circular, elliptical, pendulum-like or irregular shape and the clockwise and counterclockwise direction of rotation. The acquisition setup consists of two cameras used to obtain a stereoscopic vision for each plant. Cameras switch to infrared recording mode for low light level conditions, allowing continuous motion acquisition during the night. A dedicated software enables semi-automatic tracking of key points of the plant and reconstructs the 3D trajectory of each point along the whole movement. Three-dimensional trajectories for different points undergo a specific processing to compute those features suitable to describe circumnutation (e.g., maximum speed, circumnutation center, circumnutation length, etc.). By applying our method to the approach-to-grasp movement exhibited by climbing plants (Pisum sativum L.) it appears clear that the plants scale movement kinematics according to the features of the support in ways that are adaptive, flexible, anticipatory and goal-directed, reminiscent of how animals would act.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Plants Move Like Animals? A Three-Dimensional Stereovision Analysis of Movement in Plants

Simonetti

Bulgheroni

Guerra

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…In temporal terms, it took more time for the tendrils to reach peak velocity and maximum aperture, calculated as percentages of the movement's duration, when the support was thinner. Likewise, the maximum distance between the tendrils was significantly greater for the thinner with respect to thicker support [37][38][39]. This phenomenon was explained in the fact that, for plants, reaching and grasping thicker supports is a more energy-consuming process than grasping thinner supports.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Evidence from laboratory settings further demonstrates the support-thickness effects by using kinematic analysis to characterize the movements of Pisum sativum L. (from now on P. sativum) [37][38][39][40][41]. Guerra and colleagues [39], for example, demonstrated that P. sativum plants can perceive a support and modulate the kinematics of the tendrils' velocity and aperture depending on the thickness of the support.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although both ecological and laboratory findings have provided evidence about the relationship between the behavior of climber plants and support thickness, the mechanisms underlying thickness coding and processing remain obscure [37][38][39]. A variety of hypotheses based on the perception abilities of plants have been put forward [43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In such circumstances, we expect differences between the perturbed and the control conditions because the thickness for the belowground part of the support used for the perturbed conditions differ from the thickness of the support used for the control conditions. Remember that the movement of P. sativum plants towards supports of different thicknesses are characterized by specific kinematical signatures [37][38][39][40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Root-To-Shoot Signaling for the Coding of Support Thickness in Pea Plants

Guerra¹,

Bonato²,

Wang³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Plants characterized by a soft or weak steam, such as climbing plants, need to find a potential support (e.g., wooden trunk) to reach greater light exposure. Since Darwin’s research on climbing plants, several studies on their searching and attachment behaviors have demonstrated their unique ability to process different support features to modulate their movements accordingly. Nevertheless, the strategies underlying this ability are yet to be uncovered. The present research tries to fill this gap by investigating how the interaction between above- (i.e., stem, tendril, …) and belowground (i.e., the root system) plant organs influence the kinematics of the approach-to-grasp movement. With three-dimensional (3D) kinematical analysis, we characterized the movement of pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) towards a support with different thicknesses above and belowground (i.e., thin below, thick aboveground, or the opposite). As a control condition, the plants were presented to supports with the same thickness below- and aboveground (i.e., either entirely thin or thick). The results suggest an integration between the information from below- and aboveground for driving the reach-to-grasp behavior of the aerial plant organs. Information about the support conveyed by the root system seems particularly important to fulfil the end-goal of the movement.

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Motor cognition in plants: from thought to real experiments

Bonato,

Castiello,

Guerra

et al. 2024

Theor. Exp. Plant Physiol.

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Motor cognition involves the process of planning and executing goal–directed movements and recognizing, anticipating, and interpreting others’ actions. Motor cognitive functions are generally associated with the presence of a brain and are ascribed only to humans and other animal species. A growing body of evidence suggests that aneural organisms, like climbing plants, exhibit behaviors driven by the intention to achieve goals, challenging our understanding of cognition. Here, we propose an inclusive perspective under motor cognition to explain climbing plants’ behavior. We will first review our empirical research based on kinematical analysis to understand movement in pea plants. Then, we situate this empirical research within the current theoretical debate aimed at extending the principles of cognition to aneural organisms. A novel comparative perspective that considers the perception–action cycle, involving transforming perceived environmental elements into intended movement patterns, is provided.

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On-line control of movement in plants

Cited by 23 publications

References 34 publications

Can Plants Move Like Animals? A Three-Dimensional Stereovision Analysis of Movement in Plants

Can Plants Move Like Animals? A Three-Dimensional Stereovision Analysis of Movement in Plants

Root-To-Shoot Signaling for the Coding of Support Thickness in Pea Plants

Motor cognition in plants: from thought to real experiments

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