A new study has found that plants experience stress and are capable of sending out signals similar to those communicated by animals under stress. The study's findings provide insight into how plants respond to a stressful environment despite the lack of a central nervous system.
Researchers at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology found that plants use the same compound animals use to transmit signals that regulate growth when facing drought, viruses or extreme temperatures. But instead of using neurons, plants use cell-to-cell transmission.
"We've known for a long-time that the animal neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is produced by plants under stress; for example, when they encounter drought, salinity, viruses, acidic soils or extreme temperatures," Matthew Gilliham, senior author and an associate professor at the ARC Future Fellow in the University's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, said in a news release.
"But it was not known whether GABA was a signal in plants. We've discovered that plants bind GABA in a similar way to animals, resulting in electrical signals that ultimately regulate plant growth when a plant is exposed to a stressful environment."
The researchers believe their findings can be useful in the development of technologies that would make crops more resilient to viruses.
"The major stresses agricultural crops face π like pathogens and poor environmental conditions – account for most yield losses around the planet, and, consequently, food shortages," study co-author Professor Stephen Tyerman said.
"By identifying how plants use GABA as a stress signal we have a new tool to help in the global effort to breed more stress resilient crops to fight food insecurity."
The study was published in the July 29 issue of Nature Communications.
