All quiet
in the garden? Take another look because it seems there might be an awful lot
of chatter going on in the flower beds.
In news to
gladden the heart of Prince Charles, who was once much mocked for having
conversations with cabbages and the like, it appears science has caught up with
what many gardeners have long held true – plants can communicate.
Researchers
revealed how plants talk by modifying a cabbage gene which triggers the
production of a gas emitted when a plant’s surface is cut or pierced.
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| Close study: Charles uses magnifying glass to inspect cacti plants in 1993 |
By adding
the protein luciferase – which makes fireflies glow in the dark – to the DNA
the plants’ emissions could be monitored on camera.
One cabbage
plant had a leaf cut off with scissors and started emitting a gas – methyl
jasmonate – thereby ‘telling’ its neighbours there may be trouble ahead.
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Two nearby
cabbage plants, which had not been touched, received the message they should
protect themselves. They did this by producing toxic chemicals on the leaves to
fend off predators such as caterpillars.
It is the
first time such a process has been caught on camera. Scientists say it raises
the possibility that plants are all communicating with each other in a complex
‘invisible language’ which we know nothing about.
The footage
will be shown as part of a three-part series called How to Grow a Planet,
starting on Tuesday on BBC2 and presented by Professor Iain Stewart.
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| From little saplings: The Queen's oak tree which she planted is the first of 4,000 trees that will make up Sandringham's Jubilee Wood |
Professor
Stewart, who saw the experiment at Exeter University, said: ‘The gas triggered
a change in the biological activity in the two neighbouring plants. They
detected the message warning them to protect themselves.
‘It’s
fascinating to realise that there could be a constant chatter going on
between different plants, that they can
in some way sense chemically what is happening to others, like a hidden language which could be going on all
around us.
‘Most
people assume that plants lead a rather passive life, but in reality they move
and sense and communicate. It’s almost like they show a kind of intelligence.’
The work
was led by Professor Nick Smirnoff, who said it does not mean plants feel pain
because they have no nerves.
Professor
Smirnoff, a biochemist, said: ‘We have managed to show in a visual way that the
gas emitted by plants when they have been wounded affects their neighbours.
‘But at
this stage we don’t know why. They could have been trying to alert the plant’s
other leaves to the damage and their neighbours have just picked it up, or they
for some reason evolved to alert other plants.
‘It is not
clear why that would be beneficial as you would think plants would be in
competition with each other. So there’s a lot more work to be done.’
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