Plant electrome: the electrical dimension of plant life

Electrome & Cognition Modes in Plants: A Transdisciplinary Approach to the Eco-Sensitiveness of the World

“…The criterion of mutual manipulation is therefore a good model of cognition via an organism rather than a physical object and can be extended to another organism of a different kingdom [70]. It supports our model of the plant as ecoplastic interface and considering the dynamic coupling of the plant and its environment (milieu) as inseparable from its cognitive valence, in part thanks to the electrome that highly contributes to the development of sensitiveness and communicative functions of plants [2,11]. Other advanced forms of cognition in organisms without a brain, even tiny ones like in the insects or birds that we mentioned earlier, have been described in a protist, the Physarum polycephalum, single-celled organism of the myxomycetes family, which is able of learning and memorizing.…”

“…The answer given in the light of our recent work is that the permanent emission of spontaneous EPGs is a reflection of effective monitoring systems, reactivity and discriminatory filtering in front of permanent stimuli and stress that the plant fixed to the ground in a singular environment can only undergo [6,10]. They thus constitute a decisive part of the spectrum, defined as the set of the ionic dynamics of the bioelectric spectrum delivered by a given plant (its specific signature) or a population of plants (De Loof, 2016, Toledo 2019, Souza et al, 2017) [1,2,10]. They can synchronize and spread over a long distance at the level of the whole plant, thanks to network activities, thus sustaining high perceptive and communicative levels [7].…”

“…As recently published, in this context, we assimilate plants to plastic interfaces having an "electromic" nature (that is to say using primarily the electric dimension of life) [2] and that can display cognitive abilities (in the biological meaning of the term) into interactive ecosystems [11]. In addition to facilitating the transfer of information via membrane bioelectric networks and ion channels or symplasmatic gap junction, this ability to discriminate and respond quickly and efficiently to environmental stimuli on the scale of the whole plant, would avoid the mobilization of sub-structures and could explain the apparent functioning unit of the plant, especially in face of a new situation, despite its functional modularity, its impermanence or its versatility and its non-individuality.…”

“…The electrome, defined in analogy to the biome or genome, as the electrical dimension of plant life (De Loof 2016, Toledo et al, 2019) [1,2], represents, among the various cell signaling systems, one of the major means of treatment information in plants, and by extension for all living systems. At a plant cell level, it is characterized in particular by the presence of proton pumps and the permanent opening / closing of ion channels anchored in the plasma membrane by the cytoskeleton at the origin of action potentials (PA), by plasmodesms for the propagation of signals at short distance (cell to cell communication) and by the vascular and hydraulic systems at the xylem or phloem level depending on the direction of circulation for the transport of material or nutrients like sugar, hormone or chemical mediators, liquids.…”

“…The presence of these electrophytograms or EPGs has recently been validated by several independent international teams, including those of Masi et al [7] (spatiotemporal course of spontaneous EPGs and synchronization of long-distance spikes recorded by MEA 60 channels on roots of maize, 2009); of Cabral et al (modeling of complex oscillatory bioelectric signals, 2011) [8] and Saraiva et al and Souza et al, (2017) (recording of spontaneous EPGs and spikelets induced after osmotic shocks by high resolution spectral analysis on shoots of soy) [9,10] with whom we are now collaborating (Toledo et al 2019, Debono and Souza, 2019) [2,11]. In all these models and with different technologies, long-term EPG recordings with the same signal-to-noise ratio, complex oscillatory behaviors and similar reactivity to stimuli were found.…”