Though brainless, plants can talk! Sometimes I find myself thinking the same of humans, but plants have their own unique methods of collaborating with one another.

Along with intaking water, extracting nutrients from the soil, and providing a support system for the plant, roots also secrete chemicals. Plants are able to alter the makeup of these secretions, to signal other organisms within their reach. The technical term for these chemicals is ‘root exudates.’

Root exudates work comparably to pheromones in animals. Pheromones are also secretions that convey an intended message. These chemicals often influence the behavior of other animals and potentially cause changes in their bodies, especially in animals of the same species. 

For instance, a queen honey bee must constantly release pheromones to retain its stature within the colony; namely, the queen mandibular pheromone. Reduced pheromonal output signals to the colony that the queen has died, or become too weak, and the bees ready a replacement. The absence of a queen’s pheromones communicates to the colony that there is need for an heiress.

Like the queen bee, plants can form their own colonies using chemical communication. The PLOS One journal published a study, “Aboveground mechanical stimuli affect belowground plant-plant communication,” in 2018 that exemplifies plant communication through root exudates. 

Researchers planted germinated maize seeds next to groups of previously grown maize seedlings. They briefly touched together the seedlings in one of these collections, causing the newly introduced seed’s root growth to stunt in that direction. The untouched group had no such effect. This conveys that the maize plants communicated the aboveground touch to the subterranean seed by means of root exudates.

Similarly, other plants are able to identify their neighbors via physical contact or root exudates and intentionally grow such that they won’t cast shade on members of their own species. This has the potential to redirect the growth of the plant in question much like the maize in the researchers’ experiment. Occasionally, this can be to the plant’s detriment, leading it to sacrifice its own space for the good of the group.

Not all times are plants so congenial. More often plants use these signals to mark out territory. Regardless, there is much more to plant life than a mere stem and leaves.

162 comments
  1. Pingback: Lincoln Georgis
  2. Pingback: Arie Baisch
  3. Pingback: MILFCity
  4. Pingback: domains
  5. Pingback: Make my essay
  6. Pingback: valentines gift
  7. Pingback: Click Here
  8. Pingback: Click Here
  9. Pingback: Click Here
  10. Pingback: Click Here
  11. Pingback: Click Here
  12. Pingback: Click Here
  13. Pingback: Click Here
  14. Pingback: Click Here
  15. Pingback: Click Here
  16. Pingback: Click Here
  17. Pingback: Click Here
  18. Pingback: Click Here
  19. Pingback: Click Here
  20. Pingback: Click Here
  21. Pingback: Click Here
  22. Pingback: Click Here
  23. Pingback: Click Here
  24. Pingback: Click Here
  25. Pingback: spaceros
  26. Pingback: Click Here
  27. Pingback: Click Here
  28. Pingback: Click Here
  29. Pingback: Click Here
  30. Pingback: Click Here
  31. Pingback: Click Here
  32. Pingback: Click Here
  33. Pingback: Click Here
  34. Pingback: Click Here
  35. Pingback: Click Here
  36. Pingback: Click Here
  37. Pingback: Click Here
  38. Pingback: Click Here
  39. Pingback: Click Here
  40. Pingback: Click Here
  41. Pingback: Click Here
  42. Pingback: Click Here
  43. Pingback: Click Here
  44. Pingback: Click Here
  45. Pingback: Click Here
  46. Pingback: Click Here
  47. Pingback: Click Here
  48. Pingback: Click Here
  49. Pingback: Click Here
  50. Pingback: Click Here
  51. Pingback: Click Here
  52. Pingback: Click Here
  53. Pingback: Click Here
  54. Pingback: Click Here
  55. Pingback: Click Here
  56. Pingback: Click Here
  57. Pingback: Click Here
  58. Pingback: Click Here
  59. Pingback: Click Here
  60. Pingback: Click Here
  61. Pingback: Click Here
  62. Pingback: Click Here
  63. Pingback: Click Here
  64. Pingback: Click Here
  65. Pingback: Click Here
  66. Pingback: Click Here
  67. Pingback: Click Here
  68. Pingback: Click Here
  69. Pingback: Google reviews
  70. Pingback: 2023 Books
  71. Pingback: funeral director
  72. Pingback: rip
  73. Pingback: obituaries
  74. Pingback: IRA Empire
  75. Pingback: Chirurgie Tunisie
  76. Pingback: Future University
  77. Pingback: Cybersecurity
  78. Pingback: fue
  79. Pingback: celebrate
  80. Pingback: Corona crisis
  81. Pingback: Career services
  82. Pingback: Critical thinking
  83. Pingback: Admissions process
  84. Pingback: binario luci led
  85. Pingback: pull up
  86. Pingback: pec deck inversé

Comments are closed.

You May Also Like
Manny Ramirez in his stint in Taiwan: CC

TTT Interview: Manny Ramirez “baseball royalty”

Manny Ramirez is a baseball superstar.  In an MLB career that lasted

Chinese Troops Struggle With Low Quality Winter Clothing On Indian Border

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s adventurism has started costing it heavily. Actions

Calling China’s Bluff On Recent Provocations: Indian Style

Editor’s note: Dr Punit Saurabh is an Assistant Professor (Strategy area) at Nirma

How Did ‘Non-Country’ Taiwan Beat COVID-19 & The WHO So Convincingly?

“Taiwan is an island of resilience” said the first female president of