Study
Underground signals carried through common mycelial networks warn neighbouring plants of aphid attack
Babikova, Zdenka; Gilbert, Lucy; Bruce, Toby J. A.; Pickett, John A.; Johnson, David
Ecology Letters, 2013
Broad bean plants were grown with or without fungal connections between them, using mesh barriers that allowed or blocked mycelium while letting water and solutes through. One plant was then infested with aphids and the volatile chemicals released by its neighbours were measured.
- Studied in
- Vicia faba, Glomus intraradices, Acyrthosiphon pisum
- Sample size
- potted broad bean plants across connected and severed treatments
Neighbours connected by intact fungal networks began producing aphid-repellent and parasitoid-attracting volatiles; those with severed connections did not.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Information about herbivore attack can travel between plants through shared mycorrhizal networks.
How NatureHQ reads it
The most concrete demonstration that something informational — not just carbon — can move through a fungal connection. The mesh design is the strength: it separates fungal connection from simple soil chemistry. It is a controlled pot experiment with one crop plant and one fungus, and whether this happens meaningfully in a wild ecosystem is not established.
- Pot experiment with a single crop species and a single fungal species.
- The identity of the transmitted signal is unknown.
- No demonstration that this occurs at ecologically relevant scales in the field.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Wiley journalsPublished in a Wiley journal.
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-09.