Lecture 11 –
Plant-animal communication
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND
What do you know so far about plant-animal communication?
Robert Krulwich/NPR
Points to cover
1. What is communication?
2. What cues do plants perceive
from animals?
3. What cues do plants produce /
send to animals?
1 Communication
Communication
sender receiver
emission perception processing
cue / signal response
Karban 2015
Communication
sender receiver
emission perception processing
cue / signal response
Cue: unintentional, passive trait/action that provides information
Signal: intended to provide information
Karban 2015
Plants can be “sender” or “receiver”
sender receiver
emission perception processing
cue / signal response
Karban 2015
Illustrations: Robert Krulwich/NPR
Example of plant-animal communication: aphids & bean plants
sender: aphids receiver: bean
feeding on leaves plants
emission perception
wounding/ distress
Karban 2015
Illustrations: Robert Krulwich/NPR
Example of plant-animal communication: aphids & bean plants
sender: aphids receiver: bean
feeding on leaves plants
emission perception processing
wounding/ distress response: release
chemicals to attract
wasps that will
attack the aphids
Karban 2015
Illustrations: Robert Krulwich/NPR
Communication between the bean plants & wasps
Sender:
bean plant
receiver:
cue:
wasp
chemical
response: come to
the plant to attack
the aphids
Karban 2015
Illustrations: Robert Krulwich/NPR
Eavesdropping or communication?
• Eavesdropping: sender does not
necessarily choose to provide
information, or otherwise interact,
with the receiver
Karban 2021
Tomato plants eavesdrop on cues produced by snails
snails tomatoes
perception processing
kairomone chemical
(locomotion mucus) defenses
Orrock et al. 2018
[Link]
2 Cues that plants perceive
• Light
• Water
• Mineral resources
• Temperature
• Gravity
• Touch
• Chemicals
• Sound Photo by Tim Skyrme
Karban 2015, 2021
Tactile cues
• Diverse plant tissues detect
neighbors and other organism
by mechanical stimulation
• Plants use touch receptors to
detect insect footsteps
Mimosa pudica
Karban 2021, Pfeiffer et al. 2009
Response:
Venus fly traps have multiple hairs that change behavior by closing trap
are highly sensitive to insect footsteps –
can detect insects < 3mg weight
(Scherzer et al. 2019
[Link]
Image Credit: Sönke Scherzer
To avoid false alarms, they count the number of times the hairs are nudged
Bohn et al. 2016 [Link]
When sensing herbivores walk across a leaf surface, some plants
respond with a rapid, localized, defense compounds
• Footsteps of tobacco budworm larvae on tobacco leaves stimulate the
synthesis of 4-aminobutyrate (GABA) within minutes
can be visualized through increases in chlorophyll fluorescence or superoxide production
Photo by Whitney Cranshaw
Bown et al. 2002 [Link]
When sensing herbivores walk across a leaf surface, some plants
respond with a rapid, localized, defense compounds
• Footsteps of tobacco budworm larvae on tobacco leaves stimulate the
synthesis of 4-aminobutyrate (GABA) within minutes
can be visualized through increases in chlorophyll fluorescence or superoxide production
larva moving left to right fluorescent footsteps corresponding area of
Photo by Whitney Cranshaw across a leaf 50s later superoxide production
Bown et al. 2002 [Link]
Cost associated with defense related to tactile cue
• Plants subjected to repeated touch
may endure development changes:
o Shorter growth
o Sturdier stems
o Increased flexibility
• Repetitive touch stimulation in Arabidopsis resulted in flowering
delay and inhibition of inflorescence elongation.
Photo by Dereth Phillips
untreated controls touched twice daily
Braam 2005 [Link]
Chemical cues
• Detection of herbivores by recognizing the chemical
signature of eggs & ovipositional fluids
o Allows defenses to increase before occurrence of tissue damage
Hilker & Fatourous 2016. [Link]
Hilker & Fatourous 2016. [Link]
• Some plants detect chemicals from
salivary glands or regurgitant from
the guts of many insects
• Oral secretions contain compounds Photo by Andrew Jensen
specific to the herbivore
Salivary protein from aphids can be
recognized by tobacco plants
suppress feeding through chemical
accumulation
Guo et al. 2020
[Link]
• Some plants recognize herbivores
from their frass (insect excrement)
Proteins from fall armyworms excrement induced
wound-responsive defense genes in corn
lower insect performance
Ray et al. 2015
[Link]
Acoustic cue
• Plants can respond to
vibrations produced by insects
Tobacco plants increase defensive alkaloids
when presented with playbacks of vibrations of
feeding caterpillars (Phthorimaea operculella)
Pinto et al. 2019 [Link]
Production of sweeter nectar
following exposure to vibrational cues
Wing beats
of flying bees
Oenothera drummondii
(beach evening-primrose)
Photo by Harry Rose
Viets et al. 2019
[Link]
Flowers vibrated in response to the
sounds of bee or moth recording
No response to high No response from Vibration in response
Oenothera drummondii frequency because glass-covered to bee sounds +
(beach evening-primrose) the response is flowers increased nectar
Photo by Harry Rose
frequency-specific production
Viets et al. 2019
[Link]
Watch - predator vibrations trigger plant chemical defenses [Link]
Plants perceive different cues using a variety of receptors and
feedback mechanisms
Examples:
• Light phytochrome receptor
• Gravity Mechanical sensing
• CO2 chemical feedback
• Touch receptors on foliage surface
Karban 2015, 2021
Plants can also be affected by their previous experiences
o Can be short-term term memory
o Or retain memory manifested in subsequent generations
Zohar Lazar
Karban 2015, 2021
Mimosa pudica
Mimosa have a reflex of closing their Treated plants:
leaves when disturbed • 7 sets of 60 drops: time 0, then 10 min later, and at 1, 2, 4
and 6 hours later (let recover in between)
Experiment: administer disturbance by • shaken for 5s immediately after the 6h drop
dropping potted plants • another set of drops right after recovery from that shake
Control plants: one drop in the morning
Gagliano et al. 2014
[Link] Measured degree of openness of the leaves after
Mimosa pudica
Results: leaf-folding reflex habituates rapidly
Mimosa have a reflex of closing their • leaves starting to re-open even before the first set of drops
leaves when disturbed was finished
• when repeatedly disturbed, leaves were not only completely
Experiment: administer disturbance by open by the end of a set but also stopped closing
dropping potted plants • habituation was faster when plants were under low light
• habituated response returned to original reflex when
introduced a new stimuli (shake after the 6h drop)
Gagliano et al. 2014
[Link]
“ability to ignore a recurrent, yet harmless stimulus, in
order to minimize energy waste”
3 Cues that plants produce (send)
• Chemical
• Visual
• Touch
Herbivory-induced volatile organic compounds (HIVOCs)
• Induced in the face of plant damage
by herbivores, leaf injury caused by
caterpillar movement & oviposition
• Attract predators to protect the plant
when lima beans are attacked by spider mites, they
emit a chemical that attracts predatory mites
Damaged plant
• predators can learn to associate plant volatile cues with prey
Uninfested caterpillar-infested
apple tree apple tree
Great tit (Parus major)
Amo et al. 2016.
[Link]
• predators can learn to associate plant volatile cues with prey
Uninfested caterpillar-infested
apple tree apple tree
Great tit (Parus major)
unexperienced bird
(hand-fed prior to
Amo et al. 2016. experiment)
[Link]
Visits to the caterpillar-infested trees
Amo et al. 2016.
[Link]
• Many insects can locate
specific plants based on
olfactory cues
Codling moth
Secondary metabolites in fruits can filter consumers
H: hackberry fruit
NP: non-pungent chillies
Capsicum chacoense
P: pungent chillies
Capsicum annuum
Capsaicin is unpalatable to mammalian seed predators
but highly enjoyed by seed-dispersing birds Tewksbury and Nabhan 2001. [Link]
Plants advertise to pollinators and seed dispersers through
visual, olfactory, tactile cues
Wikimedia Commons © Chris Child
Plants also send information about the development stages of the
fruits through visual, olfactory and tactile cues
Fruits have different percentage of different
volatile compounds throughout the different
stages of their development
Rodriguez et al. 2012
[Link]
Terpene volatile profile of different citrus
tissues and organs
Fruit scent can predict nutrient content
Sugar content strongly associated with chemical composition
of fruit scent in a rainforest tree community in Madagascar
Nevo et al. 2019
[Link]
Fruit color can predict nutrient content
• Sugar-rich and protein-rich species
were found to have similar color
Stournaras et al. 2015
[Link]
Summary points
• A communication occurs when a sender emits a cue or signal
that is perceived / sensed by a receiver, and the receiver
processes the information and responds
• Plants perceive cue from the environments, other plants and
other organisms and respond accordingly
• Plants emit cue to other plants and other organisms
Interesting NPR article about plant communication:
[Link]
3/plants-talk-plants-listen-here-s-how
Suggested additional reading
Karban, R., 2021. Plant communication.
Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and
Systematics, 52, pp.1-24.
[Link]
010421-020045
Small group Activity
– Thought question
• How can we apply the knowledge
about plant-animal communication
into real-world problems / human
activities ? (e.g., in agriculture)
Submit individual responses on bcourses
after discussion within your group
(In-class assignment 1)
To do before Tuesday Sep 10
Read Articles 1 & 2 Summarize the articles: Formulate at least 5
research questions, data, questions and/or comments
approach, main findings and about the articles
applications
Submit on bcourse; Be ready to discuss your ideas in class
