Can plants talk to each other? - Richard Karban

Prevodilac: Dragana Radmanovic Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

Can plants talk to each other?

Mogu li biljke da razgovaraju jedna s drugom?

It certainly doesn't seem that way.

Definitivno se ne čini tako.

Plants don't have complex sensory or nervous systems like animals do,

Biljke nemaju složene senzorne ili nervne sisteme kao što imaju životinje

and they look pretty passive,

i izgledaju prilično pasivno

dok se sunčaju na suncu

basking in the sun,

and responding instinctively to inputs like light and water.

i reaguju instinktivno na ulazne informacije poput svetla i vode.

But odd as it sounds, plants can communicate with each other.

Ali, ma koliko čudno da zvuči, biljke mogu da komuniciraju međusobno.

Just like animals, plants produce all kinds of chemical signals

Baš kao i životinje, biljke proizvode svakakve hemijske signale

in response to their environments,

kao odgovor na svoje okruženje,

and they can share those signals with each other,

i mogu da dele ove signale između sebe,

especially when they're under attack.

naročito kada su napadnute.

These signals take two routes:

Ovi signali putuju na dva načina:

through the air,

kroz vazduh

and through the soil.

i kroz zemlju.

When plant leaves get damaged,

Kada se listovi biljke oštete,

whether by hungry insects or an invading lawn mower,

bilo da to čine gladni insekti ili kosilice trave,

they release plumes of volatile chemicals.

one ispuštaju oblake isparivih hemikalija.

They're what's responsible for the smell of freshly cut grass.

One su ono što daje miris sveže pokošene trave.

Certain kinds of plants, like sagebrush and lima beans,

Neke vrste biljaka, poput pelina i lima pasulja,

are able to pick up on those airborne messages

su sposobne da prepoznaju ove poruke koje se prenose vazduhom

and adjust their own internal chemistry accordingly.

i da prema njima podese svoj unutrašnji hemijski sastav.

In one experiment, sagebrush leaves were deliberately damaged by insects

U jednom eksperimentu, listove pelina su namerno oštećivali insekti

or scissor-wielding scientists.

ili naučnici makazama.

Throughout the summer,

Tokom leta,

other branches on the same sagebrush plant

druge grane na istoj biljci pelina

got eaten less by insects wandering through,

su manje pojeli insekti koji su okolo tumarali,

and so did branches on neighboring bushes,

kao i grane susednih žbunova,

suggesting that they had beefed up their anti-insect defenses.

ukazujući na to da su pojačali svoju odbranu protiv insekata.

Even moving the air from above a clipped plant to another one

Čak i pomeranje vazduha iznad obrezane biljke do druge biljke

made the second plant more insect-resistant.

čini drugu biljku otpornijom na insekte.

These airborne cues increase the likelihood of seedling survival,

Ovi znaci nošeni vazduhom povećavaju izglede sadnica da prežive

and made adult plants produce more new branches and flowers.

i čine da odrasle biljke proizvode više novih grana i cveća.

But why would a plant warn its neighbors of danger,

Ali, zašto bi biljka upozorila svog suseda na opasnost,

especially if they're competing for resources?

naročito ako se nadmeću za resurse?

Well, it might be an accidental consequence of a self-defense mechanism.

Možda bi to mogla biti slučajna nuspojava samoodbrambenog mehanizma.

Plants can't move information through their bodies as easily as we can,

Biljke ne mogu da prenose informacije kroz svoja tela tako lako kao mi,

especially if water is scarce.

naročito ako vode ima malo.

So plants may rely on those airborne chemicals

Tako se biljke mogu osloniti na ove hemikalije koje se prenose vazduhom

to get messages from one part of a plant to another.

da prenesu poruke od jednog dela biljke do drugog.

Nearby plants can eavesdrop on those signals,

Susedne biljke mogu da prisluškuju ove signale,

like overhearing your neighbor sneeze and stocking up on cold medicine.

kao kada biste krišom čuli svog komšiju kako kija

i obezbedili se zalihama lekova protiv prehlade.

Different plants convey those warnings using different chemical languages.

Različite biljke prenose ova upozorenja koristeći se drugačijim hemijskim jezikom.

Individual sagebrush plants in the same meadow

Pojedinačne biljke pelina u istoj livadi

release slightly different sets of alarm chemicals.

ispuštaju delimično drugačije grupe upozoravajućih hemikalija.

The makeup of that cocktail influences the effectiveness of communication.

Sadržaj tog koktela utiče na efikasnost komunikacije.

The more similar two plants' chemical fingerprints are,

Što su sličniji hemijski otisci dve biljke,

the more fluently they can communicate.

to one mogu tečnije da komuniciraju.

A plant will be most sensitive to the cues emitted by its own leaves.

Biljka će biti najosetljivija na znake koje emituju njeni sopstveni listovi.

But because these chemicals seem to be inherited,

Ali, zbog toga što se čini da su ove hemikalije nasledne,

like human blood types,

kao što su nasledne krvne grupe kod ljudi,

sagebrush plants communicate more effectively

biljke pelina komuniciraju mnogo efikasnije

with relatives than with strangers.

sa rođacima nego sa strancima.

Ali, ponekad, čak i druge vrste imaju koristi.

But sometimes, even other species can benefit.

Tomato and tobacco plants can both decipher sagebrush warning signals.

Biljke paradajza i duvana mogu da dešifruju pelinove znake upozorenja.

Plants don't have to rely solely on those airborne broadcasts.

Biljke ne moraju da se oslanjaju samo na vazdušne emisije.

Signals can travel below the soil surface, too.

Signali mogu da putuju i ispod površine zemlje.

Most plants have a symbiotic relationship with fungi,

Većina biljaka ima simbiotičku vezu sa gljivama,

which colonize the plants' roots and help them absorb water and nutrients.

koje kolonizuju koren biljaka i pomažu im da apsorbuju vodu i hranljive materije.

These fungal filaments form extensive networks

Ova vlakna gljiva formiraju proširene mreže

that can connect separate plants,

koje mogu da povežu udaljene biljke,

creating an underground super highway for chemical messages.

kreirajući podzemni superautoput za hemijske poruke.

When a tomato plant responds to blight

Kada biljka paradajza reaguje na biljne vaši

by acitvating disease-fighting genes and enzymes,

aktivacijom gena koji se bore protiv bolesti i enzima,

signaling molecules produced by its immune system

molekuli-signali koje proizvodi njen imuni sistem

can travel to a healthy plant

mogu da putuju do zdrave biljke

and prompt it to turn on its immune system, too.

i da je upozore da uključi svoj imuni sistem, takođe.

These advance warnings increase the plants chance of survival.

Ova napredna upozorenja povećavaju šansu biljke da preživi.

Bean plants also eavesdrop on each other's health

Biljke pasulja takođe prisluškuju zdravlje jedna druge

through these fungal conduits.

kroz ove gljivične cevovode.

An aphid investation in one plant

Napad biljnih vaši na jednoj biljci

triggers its neighbor to ramp up production of compounds that repel aphids

pokreće njenog suseda da pojača proizvodnju jedinjenja koja ih teraju

and attract aphid-eating wasps.

i koja privlače ose koje jedu biljne vaši.

If you think of communication as an exchange of information,

Ako gledate na komunikaciju kao na razmenu informacija,

then plants seem to be active communicators.

onda se čini da su biljke aktivni komunikatori.

They're sending, receiving, and responding to signals

One šalju, primaju i reaguju na signale

without making a sound,

u potpunoj tišini,

and without brains, noses, dictionaries, or the Internet.

bez mozgova, noseva, rečnika ili interneta.

And if we can learn to speak to them on their terms,

I ukoliko naučimo da pričamo sa njima na njihov način,

we may gain a powerful new tool to protect crops and other valuable species.

mogli bismo da dobijemo moćno novo sredstvo

za zaštitu useva i drugih vrednih vrsta.

It all makes you wonder what else are we missing?

Sve ovo nas upućuje na pitanje: šta još propuštamo?