Corn Plants Communicate with Each Other to Defend Themselves when They Are Very Close

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF)

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Corn plants communicate with each other in densely planted fields. If pests threaten, they warn their fellow species.

El Pais

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Corn plants whisper messages to defend themselves from their enemies. When they are very close together, a volatile substance they release induces neighbors to produce compounds that slow their growth, but activates their defenses against pests. Not only that, they modify the microbiome of the soil with which they interact, leaving a defensive legacy on the ground that prepares the immune system of the next generation. The discovery, published i…

NRC Handelsblad

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Biology: A scent alerts corn plants to the presence of pests from neighbors. This allows them to defend themselves against pests. Corn plants that are planted close together communicate with…

wissenschaft.de

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When corn plants grow close together, they are actually more susceptible to predators and pathogens. However, a sophisticated mechanism in these cramped plant communities ensures that the plants can fight against pests even better. As experiments prove, corn plants communicate with each other via volatile gases and acquire useful bacteria around their roots in the absence of space. This gives them [...] The article Corn plants warn their neighbo…