====== Electrical signals in plants ======

Electrical signals within plant tissue have been studied since the 1800s. Charles Darwin was interested in possible electrical signals in the [[content:life_sciences:botany:venus_flytrap]] (which is still not completely understood). In the 1920s [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagadish_Chandra_Bose|Jagadish Chandra Bose]] investigated what he called //The Nervous Mechanisms of Plants. //His experiments, mainly on tomato plants, were not considered scientifically sound by modern day standards, and were largely forgotten.

The ideas are now under investigation again. See, for example, a report the [[https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/61/13/3697/532511?login=false|Journal of Experimental Botany,]] {{:oa_padlock_grn.png?16&nolink|open access}} Volume 61, Issue 13, pp. 3697–3708, one of many studies which have confirmed that plants do create relatively high-speed electrical signals (conducted through phloem and sieve-tubes), particularly when stressed.

Despite the resurgence of interest, very little is currently known about the purpose(s) of the electrical signals - though they do seem to be largely associated with plant damage, and may be involved in protection mechanisms against herbivores. Their implications for plant 'sensing' in general are largely unknown.

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Also see :[[content:life_sciences:botany:plant_communication]]