Mycorrhizal fungi form partnerships with plant roots.
These partnerships connect neighboring plants
through extensive networks in the soil.
Much like social networks or neural networks,
the fungal mycelia of mycorrhizas allow signals
to be sent between trees in a forest.
These networks are effectively an information highway,
with recent studies demonstrating the exchange of nutritional resources,
defence signals and allelochemicals.
New research by computer scientist Andrew Adamatzky
at the Unconventional Computing Laboratory of the University
of the West of England, suggests this ancient kingdom
has an electrical “language” all of its own – far more complicated
than anyone previously thought. According to the study,
fungi might even use “words” to form “sentences”
to communicate with neighbours.
Despite lacking a nervous system, fungi seem to transmit
information using electrical impulses across
thread-like filaments called hyphae.
The filaments form a thin web called a mycelium
that links fungal colonies within the soil. These networks
are remarkably similar to animal nervous systems.
By measuring the frequency and intensity of the impulses,
it may be possible to unpick and understand the languages
used to communicate within and between organisms
across the kingdoms of life.
~ Amanda Carroll
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