Watch: Scientists Capture Plants “Talking” to Each Other on Camera in Japan!

A team of scientists from Japan has captured real-time footage of plants “talking” to each other. According to Science Alert, the video footage shows plants to be surrounded by a fine mist of airborne compounds that they use to communicate. These compounds are like smells and warn plants of danger nearby. The video recorded by the Japanese scientists led by molecular biologist Masatsugu Toyota from Saitama University was published in the journal Nature Communications. It shows how plants receive and respond to these aerial alarms.

If #plants could talk, they’d do so thru chemical signals about predators (aphids, caterpillars, gardeners with shears/pesticides…). Plants CAN talk (which we’ve known), but molecular biologists at Saitama University in Japan caught it 1st on film. https://t.co/44gXzMerK5 pic.twitter.com/DcLAlV1iti

— HoneyGirlGrows (@HoneyGirlGrows) January 20, 2024

The team observed how an undamaged plant responded to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by plants damaged by insects or otherwise.

To capture the communication, these scientists used an air pump connected to a container of leaves and caterpillars, and another box with Arabidopsis thaliana, a common weed from the mustard family.

Science Alert said that caterpillars were allowed to feed on leaves cut from tomato plants and Arabidopsis thaliana, and the researchers captured the responses of a second, intact, insect-free Arabidopsis plant to those danger signals.

The researchers used a biosensor that glowed green and calcium ions were detected. Calcium signalling is something human cells also use to communicate.

As seen in the video, the undamaged plants received the messages of injured plants in proximity. These undamaged plants responded with bursts of calcium signalling that rippled across their outstretched leaves.

The team used a similar technique to measure calcium signals released by Mimosa pudica (touch-me-not) plants, which quickly move their leaves in response to touch, to avoid predators.