Communicating Without Nerves
I remember, as a kid, reading some of the book, The Secret Life of Plants. Now, years later, scientists are closer to understanding the mechanisms through which plants coordinate their response to the environment – and do so without the nervous system found in animals.
The finding, published this week in Nature Communication, shows that plants use a compound — the same compound used as an essential neurotransmitter in animal brains — to create electrical signals that regulate growth when facing drought, viruses or extreme temperatures.
In other words, this is how plants manage stress without having a central nervous system.
#intelligence #plants