Electrical Signals Spark Plant Gene Expression
North Carolina State UniversityA new study coauthored by a North Carolina State University botanist shows for the first time that electrical signals can trigger rapid gene expression in plants. The study, published this month (June 1997) in the European science journal Planta, shows when an electric stimulus is used to wound a tomato leaf, bioelectrical signals are rapidly transmitted from the injured cells to other cells throughout the plant.