Tomato and tobacco plants emit ultrasonic clicks when dehydrated

We recorded tomato (Solanum ... and controls, within an acoustically isolated box. We focused on the ultrasonic sound range (20–150 kHz)....

Plants are not exactly known to be great conversationalists. In this issue of Cell, a new study highlights that when stressed by desiccation or cutting injury, tomato and tobacco plants can produce airborne ultrasonic emissions.

We recorded tomato (Solanum ... and controls, within an acoustically isolated box. We focused on the ultrasonic sound range (20–150 kHz)....

Publishing in this issue of Cell, Khait et al. succeeded at measuring and characterizing the acoustic emissions of non-woody tomato and tobacco plants experiencing physiological stress.1 Plants placed in different, well-controlled conditions, including a gradually increasing state of desiccation, or a cut through the stem, generated ultrasonic clicks that were remarkably intense, reaching ca.

Tomato and tobacco plants make rapid popping sounds in response to dehydration and having their stems cut. Image © Digihelion/Shutterstock. ... Scientists have recorded plants producing airborne sounds in response to lack of water or having ...

Here we show, to our knowledge for the first time, that stressed plants emit airborne sounds that can be recorded remotely, both in acoustic chambers and in greenhouses. We recorded ∼65 dBSPL ultrasonic sounds 10 cm from tomato and tobacco plants, ...

Hadany and her colleagues recorded sounds produced by tomato and tobacco plants raised in greenhouses. Healthy plants emitted clicks and pops, but the sounds came in far more rapid bursts when the plants were deprived of water or had their stems cut.

You won’t hear the plant’s cry because it’s in the ultrasonic range — too high-pitched for human ears — but, for decades, scientists have been using special devices to listen in. For the first time, a team of researchers in Israel has documented that insects can hear and interpret plants’ acoustic distress signals. This finding builds upon the research group’s prior work recording sounds that tomato and tobacco plants make when they are dehydrated, said lead study author Rya Seltzer, an entomologist and doctoral student in the department of zoology at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Inside the hushed boxes, thirsty tomato plants emitted about 35 ultrasonic clicks per hour, the team found. Tomato plants cut at the stem were slightly less noisy, and tobacco plants clicked even less.