Mechanodetection of neighbor plants elicits adaptive leaf movements through calcium dynamics

Plants detect their neighbors via various cues, including reflected light and touching of leaf tips, which elicit upward leaf movement (hyponasty). It is currently unknown how touch is sensed and how the signal is transferred from the leaf tip to the petiole base that drives hyponasty. Here, we show...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2023-09, Vol.14 (1), p.5827-5827, Article 5827
Main Authors: Pantazopoulou, Chrysoula K., Buti, Sara, Nguyen, Chi Tam, Oskam, Lisa, Weits, Daan A., Farmer, Edward E., Kajala, Kaisa, Pierik, Ronald
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Biosensors
Calcium
Calcium ions
Calcium signalling
Fluorescence
Humanities and Social Sciences
Leaves
multidisciplinary
Perturbation
Plants (botany)
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Signal transduction
Tactile stimuli
Trichomes
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Summary:Plants detect their neighbors via various cues, including reflected light and touching of leaf tips, which elicit upward leaf movement (hyponasty). It is currently unknown how touch is sensed and how the signal is transferred from the leaf tip to the petiole base that drives hyponasty. Here, we show that touch-induced hyponasty involves a signal transduction pathway that is distinct from light-mediated hyponasty. We found that mechanostimulation of the leaf tip upon touching causes cytosolic calcium ([Ca 2+ ] cyt induction in leaf tip trichomes that spreads towards the petiole. Both perturbation of the calcium response and the absence of trichomes reduce touch-induced hyponasty. Finally, using plant competition assays, we show that touch-induced hyponasty is adaptive in dense stands of Arabidopsis. We thus establish a novel, adaptive mechanism regulating hyponastic leaf movement in response to mechanostimulation by neighbors in dense vegetation. Pantazopoulou et al . discovered that leaves sense neighbors by mutual touching of hairs on their surface, called trichomes. Using fluorescent biosensors, they show that this triggers a calcium wave to activate leaf movement away from competitors
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-41530-0