Amazing stuff! The sound of rain! Let it rain, let it rain!
"MIT engineers found that plant seeds can actually sense the sound of rain, with rice seeds germinating 30% to 40% faster when exposed to the vibrations of falling water droplets."
"... In experiments with rice seeds, the team found that the sound of falling droplets effectively shook the seeds out of a dormant state, stimulating them to germinate at a faster rate compared with seeds that were not exposed to the same sound vibrations. ..."
"... the first direct evidence that plant seeds and seedlings can sense sounds in nature. Their experiments involved rice seeds that they submerged in shallow water. Rice can germinate in both soil and shallow water. The researchers suspect that many similar seed types may also respond to the sound of rain. ...
They found that when a raindrop hits the surface of a puddle or the ground, it generates a sound wave that makes the surroundings vibrate, including any shallowly submerged seeds. These vibrations can be strong enough to dislodge a seed’s “statoliths,” which are tiny gravity-sensing organelles within certain cells of a seed. When these statoliths are jostled, their movement is a signal for seeds and seedlings to grow and sprout. ..."
From the abstract:
"The ability of natural environmental sound to stimulate seeds and seedlings sufficiently to foster growth has not been previously demonstrated or quantified.
To study this, rain sound is a logical starting point. Rain produces extremely high amplitude sound pressure with commensurate particle displacements in the upper soil, puddles and wetlands where many plant seeds germinate.
Experiments were conducted with controlled rain drops impacting soil and shallow water puddles containing submerged seeds of rice (oryza sativa). Germination rates were measured as the peak sound pressure of drop impact was varied. The displacements of micro-meter-scale statoliths relative to the structure of specialized seed cells that sense gravitational direction were estimated as a function of the controlled rain sound forcing.
The results here indicate rice and related seed types can sense the sound of rain impacting the soil or water surface above them and respond by accelerating germination at depths where impulsive rain sound is sufficiently intense to intermittently shake statoliths from contact with cell membrane receptors and trigger gravitropic growth mechanisms.
The ability to perceive rain sound and respond with accelerated germination is found to be roughly limited to the relatively shallow depths that are also beneficial to seedling survival."
Plants can sense the sound of rain, a new study finds (original news release) "Experiments by MIT engineers show rice seeds sprout faster to the sound of rain."
Seeds accelerate germination at beneficial planting depths by sensing the sound of rain (open access)
No comments:
Post a Comment