Plant Communication: Study Shows First-Ever Video of Plants Talking with Each Other

Talking plants have been caught on video for the first time, leading to an unprecedented and groundbreaking discovery in the field of plant communication. This is according to a new study led by Japan-based scientists, who recorded real-time footage of plants transmitting defense responses to their neighbors. The discovery confirms previous evidence that plants are also living things.

In the field of botany, scientists have long thought that plants also respond to stimuli and their surrounding environment through metabolic or morphogenetic changes, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, there was no previous evidence that plants can talk or communicate with each other, a trait observed in multiple species across the animal kingdom.

Yet, this prevailing scientific notion is changing after the study spearheaded by researchers at Saitama University in Japan revealed in late 2023 that plants can also talk. The research paper explores further the mystery of biology, where recent developments led to the first-ever visual recording of talking plants and how they communicate with each other.

Talking Plants Recorded

Saitama University scientists recorded their findings about talking plants in the journal Nature Communications in October 2023, with the research paper entitled 'Green leaf volatile sensory calcium transduction in Arabidopsis.' The study shows that plants perceive volatile organic compounds or VOCs, which are released by a "damaged" neighboring plants, leading to various defense responses.

Although all living organisms respond to stimuli, plants have been observed to both respond to their environment and communicate with others only under the condition that their neighbors are damaged. These responses confirm interplant communication and its role in protecting plants from environmental threats, according to Yuri Aratani and other authors of the study.

Also Read: Plants Communicate with Other plants, Help Them Grow

Plant Communication

The scientists said that significant plant communication is activated when plants are damaged by insects or due to mechanical causes. Once damaged and due to other reasons, damaged plants communicate with undamaged plants, providing the latter with warnings or danger cues. This bizarre botanical process is possible as plants respond to volatile organic compounds.

After sensing danger, the observed plants in the study then release their airborne compounds which is equivalent to a significant communication in the kingdom Plantae. It is unclear if all plant species are capable of sophisticated interplant communication. However, the Saitama University team observed the talking plant trait from Arabidopsis thaliana, a common weed from the mustard family.

Do Plants Feel Pain?

Regarding talking plants, a different yet related subject of whether plants feel pain or not has been addressed before. The latter topic has also triggered scientific debates in previous years, wherein scientists are unable to conclude if plants feel pain since they lack brains and nervous systems. Yet, this narrative could change following the latest development in plant communication.

While the Japanese researchers have not mentioned if the talking plants can also feel pain, just like humans and other animals, it is possible that the said inquiry could be the next research topic of succeeding studies in the field of biology and botany.

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