H⁺ drives ultra-fast root-to-root responses to wounding

Abstract

The plant-to-plant communication of damage is vital for plants to mount pre-emptive defensive responses in the face of threats. A variety of threats to the well-being of plants are found below ground; yet how plant roots activate inter-plant communication is largely unclear. Here we demonstrate that a wounded root rapidly releases protons (H⁺), that travel faster than any other “known” soluble biochemical signal due to a specialised diffusion mechanism. Within seconds after damage, cells in neighbouring unwounded roots sense the acidification and activate tissue-specific Ca²⁺ damage signalling. In turn, this triggers a differential growth response allowing the unwounded root to avoid the site of a potential threat. Our results reveal a non-canonical rapid response mechanism for inter-plant communication based on ultrafast proton diffusion.