Scientists from the University of Washington have found that plants can distinguish between the beginning and the end of touch, even if they do not have nerves. Results of the study published In the journal Nature Plants.
The ability of plants to sense touch has long been known to scientists, but as it turned out, they sense their beginnings and endings in different ways. The authors conducted several experiments with plant cells touched with a glass rod. At this time, scientists watched the reaction of cells with a microscope.
Cells apparently responded to the onset of touch by sending slow calcium signals to other cells, and they responded with much faster waves to the weakening of rod pressure.
“It’s amazing that plant cells are so sensitive – they can tell when something touches them. They feel the pressure, and when it’s released they feel the pressure drop. The most remarkable thing is that they don’t have nerve cells. Humans and animals feel touch through sensory cells. The mechanism in plants is that there is a change in internal cellular pressure. “It seems to increase or decrease. It doesn’t matter which cell it is. We humans might need nerve cells, but in plants any cell on the surface can do it,” said the study’s authors.