Thinking about plant curiosities? One question is: Do the plants sleep?
In essence, sleep is defined as a behavior. We sleep when we are in a state where a weak disturbance will not awake us, but a strong disturbance will revert this state rapidly.
However, we can explain sleep in animals in other ways. The period of sleep is to save energy, repair the body, and direct the energy to functions less active when we are awake.
During the evening, plants do very different activities compared to the day.
When it is day, plants focus on absorbing light and producing sugar, for example.
When it is night, plants focus on consuming sugar, producing proteins, and
growing.
3- As different as day and night
Then… do plants sleep? Sleep is mainly described as animal behaviour, that appeared very early in animal evolution.
However, different uses of energy happen to plants during the day and night and when animals are asleep and awake.
So, plants don’t sleep like us. But, like humans, do different activities during the evening compared to the day.
The main references are:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-018-0098-9
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2007.01708.x
Text and video by Maira Marins Dourado, PhD Student EpiSeedLink Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Frontal image by <a href=”https://www.freepik.es/foto-gratis/mujer-descansando-hierba_2042318.htm#page=9&query=plantas%20durmiendo&position=31&from_view=search&track=ais&uuid=eb8662d1-a889-4e00-b157-94e6f57cae34″>Freepik</a>