Plant-Mycorrhiza Communication and Mycorrhizae in Inter-Plant Communication

Abstract

Plants, animals, and even microbes well communicate with each other if we look at nature in cartoon terms. However, in the real world, there is little evidence on how this communication is established. In this context, we have focused on how plants communicate with mycorrhizal fungi and how they communicate with each other using mycorrhizal networks. We divide this communication in the rhizosphere into three categories: (i) communication of the plant with the fungus (plantish), (ii) communication of the fungus with the plant (fungish), and (iii) communication among plants through mycorrhizal networks (wired communication). We propose that molecules involved in inter-kingdom symbiotic communication, such as strigolactones, chitin-related compoundsand cutin monomers in plant-fungal communication, are initially unrelated to symbiosis, but they play important roles in its development. It's not, however, known exactly whether the dialogue between plant-fungi is fungish or plantish; Despite this, since it is a language on which they agree, we consider it appropriate to call this language "symbioticish". Moreover, mycorrhizal networks offer inter-plant communication by transferring nutrients, stress signalsand allelochemicals. We present evidence showing that these mycorrhizal networks impart sophisticated intelligence to plants and that their topology is similar to that of the human's brain, with some features including scale-free and small-world network topology. The evidence presented in this review can contribute to the study of plant-mycorrhizal fungus communication and mycorrhizal networks in the inter-plant communication by establishing a better human empathy, taking a more holistic approach to examining ecosystems and caring about the health of our plants.