AGWeb.com<\/a>\u00a0reports:<\/p>\n At the forefront of sound and\u00a0vibration research in plants, Rex Cocroft and Heidi Appel of the\u00a0University of Missouri (MU), have peeled back a significant layer on the mysteries surrounding exactly how plants \u201chear\u201d signals from their\u00a0environment and what they are\u00a0listening for. In what might turn out to be a major building block for further discovery, Cocroft and Appel\u2019s collaboration shows plants detect chewing sounds made by insects and can respond with defensive measures. Essentially, acoustic information allows plants to detect her-bivore attacks and counter by releasing chemicals.<\/em><\/p>\n Cocroft, who teaches biological sciences<\/a> at MU, recorded the sound of caterpillars using a special microphone with laser technology. These microphones use light to determine the speed of the plant’s surface moving back and forth. When the caterpillars fed on the leaves, the vibrations were much stronger than when they simply moved around on the leaf.<\/p>\n In response to the caterpillars feasting on its leaves, the thale cress began producing mildly-toxic mustard oils<\/a> and sending them out through its leaves in an effort to ward of predators. When other vibrations from movement were present, no oils were produced. So essentially, the plants were able to understand when they were being eaten, and were trying to stop it.<\/p>\n The plants used in this particular study was Arabidopsis, specifically the thale cress. Though it’s related to broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens, and kale, it’s far more popular to use for research than consumption.\u00a0Modern Farmer<\/a> states its popularity is due to the fact that it was the first plant to have its genome sequenced, so “scientists understand its inner workings better than almost any other plant.”<\/p>\n Modern Farmer also states that there is still research to be done. From the website:<\/p>\n Nobody\u2019s quite sure by what mechanism the plant can actually feel or hear these vibrations, and with so many plants out there, we\u2019re not sure what kind of variation on this behavior there is. But it\u2019s really promising research; there\u2019s even talk of using sound waves to encourage crops to, say, grow faster, or send out specific defenses against attacks.<\/em><\/p>\n The next step might include determining how perception and detection actually works inside of the plants<\/a>. Cocroft and other researchers believe that this research will be able to extend into other realms of agriculture, teaching us more about the intelligent prowess of Mother Nature.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n Amanda Kohr is a 25-year-old writer and photographer with a penchant for yoga, food, and travel. <\/em>\u00a0She prefers to bathe in the moonlight rather than the sun, and enjoys living in a state of the three C\u2019s: cozy, creative, and curious. When she\u2019s not writing, you can find her driving her VW Bug, looking for the next roadside attraction or family diner. She also roams the internet at\u00a0amandakohr.com<\/a>\u00a0and through Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We’ve speculated the intelligent life of plants, but recent research brings things to a whole new level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1494,"featured_media":48614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1055],"tags":[20,1901],"class_list":["post-48594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nourish","tag-nature","tag-plants"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"amanda-kohr\"](\"http:\/\/live-wanderlust-fest.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/amanda-kohr.jpg\")
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