Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, SE-601 74 Norrköping, Sweden.
Neuronal Dynamics Lab, International School for Advanced Studies, 34136 Trieste TS, Italy.
Sci Adv. 2023 Jul 28;9(30):eadh4443. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adh4443. Epub 2023 Jul 26.
Electrical signals in plants are mediators of long-distance signaling and correlate with plant movements and responses to stress. These signals are studied with single surface electrodes that cannot resolve signal propagation and integration, thus impeding their decoding and link to function. Here, we developed a conformable multielectrode array based on organic electronics for large-scale and high-resolution plant electrophysiology. We performed precise spatiotemporal mapping of the action potential (AP) in Venus flytrap and found that the AP actively propagates through the tissue with constant speed and without strong directionality. We also found that spontaneously generated APs can originate from unstimulated hairs and that they correlate with trap movement. Last, we demonstrate that the Venus flytrap circuitry can be activated by cells other than the sensory hairs. Our work reveals key properties of the AP and establishes the capacity of organic bioelectronics for resolving electrical signaling in plants contributing to the mechanistic understanding of long-distance responses in plants.
植物中的电信号是长距离信号传导的介质，与植物运动和应激反应相关。这些信号是通过单个表面电极进行研究的，而这些电极无法解析信号的传播和整合，从而阻碍了对它们的解码及其与功能的联系。在这里，我们基于有机电子学开发了一种兼容的多电极阵列，用于大规模和高分辨率的植物电生理学研究。我们对维纳斯捕蝇草的动作电位 (AP) 进行了精确的时空映射，发现 AP 可以通过组织以恒定速度主动传播，且没有强烈的方向性。我们还发现，自发产生的 AP 可以起源于未受刺激的触毛，并且与陷阱运动相关。最后，我们证明维纳斯捕蝇草的电路可以被除感觉触毛以外的细胞激活。我们的工作揭示了 AP 的关键特性，并确立了有机生物电子学在解析植物电信号方面的能力，有助于深入理解植物中的长距离响应机制。
