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Plants that transmit information

“We humans have many resources to deal with these situations, from fight or flight, to building tools and shelters,” says Lara García-Campa, a researcher in plant physiology at the University of Oviedo in northern Spain. Much of the experience, allowing us to better assess, anticipate and respond to risk. And this experience is built on memory.

García-Campa explains that while plants do not have the ability to move, nor a complex memory that relies on a nervous system like that of animals, “they have simpler systems at the cellular level, which lead to different strategies than those of animals.”

Recent research published by García-Campa and other researchers from the University of Oviedo concludes that trees have mechanisms to remember unfavorable environmental situations, respond better and better to stressful situations, and pass this information on to their offspring.

Meaning of adaptation

The first time we touch fire we get burned. But most likely this will not happen again. Humans, like many other species, remember a situation and its negative consequences in order to avoid them in the future. In fact, it is very likely that this first contact with fire will never happen. Our parents or grandparents warned us about the possibilities of burning ourselves and passing on information as part of the collective memory that accumulates knowledge useful to our species.

Human memory is based on a complex nervous system that plants lack. However, this does not mean that they do not have their own systems for transmitting information both internally and between generations.

They remember to learn from the past and minimize future harm.

Studying plants’ memory, and their ability to retain information from past stimuli and respond to them in the future, has shown that plants have different mechanisms for remembering them. They are very different mechanisms than those of animals, but they pursue the same goal: to learn to adapt to changes.

Some plants, for example, reduce or increase the concentration of a particular chemical in certain tissues in response to a stressful event. They maintain this focus for a period of time and use it as a cue for a recovery response.

Others display epigenetic responses, modifying the way their genes are expressed to respond more effectively to stressful situations in the future. “When we talk about adaptation, we should understand it as the coordination of several processes rather than one of them taking the lead,” explains García-Camba.

This research at the University of Oviedo has deepened knowledge of a new genetic response that trees use to remember unfavorable environmental situations such as heat waves or periods of drought. This mechanism allows them to better respond to successive unfavorable periods, which are increasingly frequent in the context of climate change, and to pass the “knowledge” on to their offspring.

“Plants are able to perceive, remember and learn from negative experiences in order to deal with them better the next time they occur.”

Bill Booth

Remember the past to prepare for the future

“When plants first feel stress, they set off alarms, like any other organism,” says García-Camba. “Primarily, general response mechanisms are activated, which are sufficient to counteract low levels of stress. These mechanisms are mainly trying to prevent oxidative damage in the cell and maintain the integrity of the various structures and organelles that make up the cells. But if the stress is more severe, the mechanism is activated. molecules with more advanced and generally more specific responses.”

As García-Campa explains, this response is based on the activation of certain genes that were dormant until then and on the modification of the way these genes are transcribed (translated into proteins) through a mechanism known as alternative splicing.

“This process can produce different proteins from the same gene,” she notes. “In the same way that when we prepare a recipe we must adapt it to the ingredients we have, cells can, through transcription and alternative splicing, adapt the action of genes so that they respond better in certain situations.”

Once a drought or heat wave has passed, plants remember this and maintain a small number of alternative gene polymorphisms, allowing them to respond quickly and efficiently when the situation repeats itself in the future. That is, they remember to learn from the past and minimize future harm.

Close to the point of no return

The University of Oviedo study was done on pine trees, but the mechanism has been described in other species, which leads the researchers to think it may be somewhat widespread. “Therefore, plants, just like animals, are able to perceive negative experiences, remember and learn from them in order to deal with them better the next time they occur,” adds García-Camba.

This is because it is likely to reappear. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Land and Climate Change, the health and functioning of both individual trees and forest ecosystems is affected by increased frequency, intensity, and duration due to extreme weather events, such as heat. Droughts and floods.

Unfortunately, we are close to the point of no return.

In addition, they are susceptible to new pests and diseases that increase their range with higher temperatures, as well as being affected by longer fire seasons.

Plant cells have great cellular flexibility and are able to deal with and learn from adverse conditions. But investing efforts in relieving stress also has negative physiological consequences such as slowing down growth, ”concludes Garcia Campa.

In addition, climate change is faster than the rate of adaptation of plants, so unfortunately we are close to the point of no return at which ecological reality exceeds the maximum adaptive capacity of many species. We must not forget our responsibility to ourselves and to future generations now that we still have time and can take giant steps towards a more sustainable world.”

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