Electrical signals and their physiological significance in plants

Abstract

Electrical excitability and signalling, frequently associated with rapid responses to environmental stimuli, are well known in some algae and higher plants. The presence of electrical signals, such as action potentials (AP), in both animal and plant cells suggested that plant cells, too, make use of ion channels to transmit information over long distances. In the light of rapid progress in plant biology during the past decade, the assumption that electrical signals do not only trigger rapid leaf movements in 'sensitive' plants such as Mimosa pudica or Dionaea muscipula, but also physiological processes in ordinary plants proved to be correct. Summarizing recent progress in the field of electrical signalling in plants, the present review will focus on the generation and propagation of various electrical signals, their ways of transmission within the plant body and various physiological effects.

Plant- and stimulus-specific variations in remote-controlled sieve-tube occlusion

“…15 EPWs are generated by mechanical and physical stimuli [16][17][18] and depend on voltage-activated and possibly mechanosensitive channels along sieve tubes. 14,19 Our recent study 13 showed, that forisomes at 3-4 cm from the stimulus site dispersed 15-45 sec after burning the leaf tip.…”

The combined effect of Cd2+ and ACh on action potentials of Nitellopsis obtusa cells

“…Electrical signals play an important role in triggering photosynthetic response across long distances within the plant, and may regulate a variety of physiological responses in plants, including elongation, growth, respiration and water uptake [5]. Many investigators, however, doubt the signaling value of electrical activity in plants, and the subject remains an area of active research.…”

Electrophysiology of Woody Plants

“…Detection of electrical potentials in plants indicates that electrical signaling is a major system to transmit information over long distances throughout its organs. The reason why plants have developed pathways for electrical signal transmission is probably related to its need to respond rapidly to environmental stress factors (Fromm & Lautner, 2007). Electrophysiological studies of longdistance signals in plants and animals contribute to our knowledge of the living world by revealing important similarities and crucial differences between plants and animals, in an area that might be directly related to their different capacities to respond to environmental change.…”

“…Plant neurobiology is aimed at establishing the structure of information networks that exist within the plant, which is expressed as responses to environmental stimuli by means of electrochemical signals (Baluška et al, 2004;Trewavas, 2005). These signals seem to complement other plant signals: hydraulic, mechanical, volatile and hormonal, already well documented in plant science (Fromm & Lautner, 2007;Gil et al, 2009;Dziubinska et al, 2003).…”

“…Several models have been proposed to explain the onset of plant cell electric excitation, resulting from external stimuli (Wayne, 1993;Fromm & Lautner, 2007). All plant cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane (Murphy et al, 2010), composed of a lipid bilayer, with a variety of molecular structures embedded in it, known generically as ion channels and electrogenic pumps (Hedrich & Schroeder, 1989).…”