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Plants Communicate Using Fungi

Posted by samzenpus on from the shroom-phone dept.

Shipud writes "In response to aphid attacks, some plants produce chemicals that repel the aphids and attract wasps, the aphids' natural enemies. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen have shown that plants attacked by aphids can communicate that information to neighboring plants via existing networks of fungi in the soil. Thus fungal symbiosis with plants is shown to be taken one step further: not only do they provide nutrients to plants, they also function as communication hardware."

4 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Some day... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The vegetarians will be slaughtered for their terrible crimes aginst plantkind.

  2. yep by Connie_Lingus · · Score: 3, Funny

    fungi in the soil > facebook

    --
    never bring a twinkie to a food fight.
  3. I wonder by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Funny

    How long before some geeky boffin demonstrates that you can use this for computations?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. Re:Pandora? by VortexCortex · · Score: 3, Funny

    What would suck is if cats could communicate not just vocally, but also via cat posture semaphore in web video and imagery, and had developed a symbiotic virus that infects humans to enslave them to better communicate with each other.

    I'm glad that could never happen.