Root phonotropism: early signalling events following sound perception in Arabidopsis roots

Sound is a fundamental form of energy and it has been suggested that plants can make use of acoustic cues to obtain information regarding their environments and alter and fine-tune their growth and development. Despite an increasing body of evidence indicating that it can influence plant growth and physiology, many questions concerning the effect of sound waves on plant growth and the underlying signalling mechanisms remains unknown. Here we show that in Arabidopsis thaliana, exposure to sound waves (200 Hz) for 2 weeks induced positive phonotropism in roots, which grew towards to sound source. We found that sound waves triggered very quickly (within minutes) an increase in cytosolic Ca2+, possibly mediated by an influx through plasma membrane and a release from internal stock. Sound waves likewise elicited rapid reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and K+ efflux. Taken together these results suggest that changes in ion fluxes (Ca2+ and K+) and an increase in superoxide production are involved in sound perception in plants, as previously established in animals.