title: Memristors in plants.
abstract: We investigated electrical circuitry of the Venus flytrap, Mimosa pudica and Aloe vera. The goal was to discover if these plants might have a new electrical component--a resistor with memory. This element was postulated recently and the researchers were looking for its presence in different systems. The analysis was based on cyclic current-voltage characteristic where the resistor with memory should manifest itself. We found that the electrostimulation of plants by bipolar sinusoidal or triangle periodic waves induces electrical responses in the Venus flytrap, Mimosa pudica and Aloe vera with fingerprints of memristors. Tetraethylammonium chloride, an inhibitor of voltage gated K(+) channels, transforms a memristor to a resistor in plant tissue. Our results demonstrate that a voltage gated K(+) channel in the excitable tissue of plants has properties of a memristor. This study can be a starting point for understanding mechanisms of memory, learning, circadian rhythms, and biological clocks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Oakwood University; Huntsville, AL USA.
authors.forename: Alexander G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Volkov
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Oakwood University; Huntsville, AL USA.
authors.forename: Clayton
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tucket
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Oakwood University; Huntsville, AL USA.
authors.forename: Jada
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reedus
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Oakwood University; Huntsville, AL USA.
authors.forename: Maya I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Volkova
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology; University of Texas; Southwestern Medical Center; Dallas, TX USA.
authors.forename: Vladislav S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Markin
authors.affiliation: Department of EECS; University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA USA.
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chua
mesh_terms: D000504:Aloe / Q000502:physiology*; D031257:Droseraceae / Q000502:physiology*; D004560:Electricity; D031298:Mimosa / Q000502:physiology*; D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated
keywords: Aloe vera; Mimosa pudica; Venus flytrap; electrophysiology; memristor; signal transduction