Thigmo responses in plants and fungi

Abstract

Thigmo mechanisms are adaptations that permit a plant to alter growth rates, change morphology, produce tropisms, avoid barriers, control germination, cling to supporting structures, infect a host plant, facilitate pollination, expedite the movement of pollen, spores, or seeds, and capture prey. Through these varied functions, plant thigmo systems have evolved impressive controls of cell differentiation, localized growth rates, regulated synthesis of novel products, and some elegant traps and projectile systems. For most thigmo events, there will be a dependence upon transmission of a signal from the cell wall through the plasmalemma and into the cytoplasm. We propose the possible involvement of integrin-like proteins, Hechtian strands, and cytoskeletal structures as possible transduction components. Many thigmo mechanisms may use some modification of the calcium/calmodulin signal transduction system, though the details of transduction systems are still poorly understood. While transmission of thigmo signals to remote parts of a plant is associated with the development of action potentials, hormones may also play a role. Thigmo mechanisms have facilitated an enormous array of plant and fungal adaptations that make major contributions to their success despite their relatively sessile or immobile states.