Plants sense their environment and respond in ways consistent with advanced decision-making capabilities. The cellular mechanisms that control the behaviors of plants are similar to those of animals and include electrically excitable cells capable of transmitting information via calcium waves and volatile messengers such as nitric oxide throughout roots, shoots, and leaves. Molecular genetic studies have shown that plants have receptors for the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA, and that these neurotransmitters control many plant behaviors. Individual plants communicate with other plants, insects, fungi, and bacteria via the stimulus-dependent production and release of a myriad of chemicals. In this episode I talk with Bonn University Professor Frantisek Baluska about the behavioral repertoire of plants, the underlying cellular mechanisms, and the rationale and value of considering plants as sentient and intelligent organisms.

LINKS

Individuality and Sociality of Plants:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7934911/pdf/rstb.2019.0760.pdf

Anesthetics and Plant Consciousness:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7907011/pdf/709_2020_Article_1594.pdf

Predictive Coding Model of Plant Behavior:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5047902/pdf/fpsyg-07-01505.pdf

Plants Behaviors and Climate Change:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7054678/pdf/EMBR-21-e50109.pdf