Plants Invented Internet

VANCOUVER - Sep 25/07 - SNS -- Researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen have demonstrated that plants have their own chat systems which are used to warn each other of attacks by insect pests and possibly other dangers.

This is especially true of plants such as strawberries, clover, reed and ground elder. They are connected by runners, which provide an efficient "chat" network akin to the internet, says Vidi researcher Josef Stuefer.

Recently Stuefer and his colleagues were the first to demonstrate that clover plants warn each other via the network links if enemies are nearby. If one of the plants is attacked by caterpillars, the other members of the network are warned via an internal signal. Once warned, the intact plants strengthen their chemical and mechanical resistance so that they are less attractive for advancing caterpillars. Thanks to this early warning system, the plants can stay one step ahead of their attackers. Experimental research has revealed that this significantly limits the damage to the plants.

However, like the internet, viruses also use the network to rapidly spread infection.

This research is part of the Vidi project 'Plant Intranets. Costs, benefits, & risks of communication pathways in clonal plant networks' that was funded by NWO and the Radboud University Nijmegen.