To thrive as sessile organisms, plants constantly perceive and respond to their environment. This is extremely challenging as different environmental stresses lead to unique biological problems, which must be solved with tailored responses. A plant also mounts these responses based on perceptions of stress by only part of its body (e.g., a few leaves). To achieve this, plants initiate long distance signaling from stress-affected tissue to distal tissue via rapid wave signals. These waves then trigger physiological changes in distal tissue to create stress memories, preparing plants for future stresses. Distinct stressors produce distinct physiological changes in distal tissue, suggesting that these waves encode and transmit specific information. However, the mechanisms by which plants encode the perception of their environment into waves, decode the meaning of these waves within distal tissue, and ultimately fine-tune wave responses with directional purpose are poorly understood.
This project asks a fundamental question: How does a non-neural organism perceive, and how do these perceptions encode meaning? To address this, we will investigate the method of encoding perception by imaging, tracking, and quantifying signaling waves in plants responding to different stresses. We will explore how meaning is conveyed in these waves by connecting specific forms to downstream decisions. Finally, we will tap into the information encoded in these waves to develop tools that will foster agricultural improvement strategies and educational outreach activities through direct plant-human communication.
The publications, data, presentations, and tools derived from this work will investigate the empirical basis for perception in a non-neural system, will provide a platform for exploring how a paradigm shift in our understanding of agency affects people’s intuitions about perception and purpose, and will translate into technologies to bolster plant resilience and food security.
