Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have discovered that plants exhibit a highly coordinated cellular response to anaesthesia, despite lacking a brain or nervous system. This breakthrough, published in Advanced Biology (2025) and Chemical and Biomedical Imaging (2026), suggests a possible universal cellular biomarker for the anaesthetised state.
Study Details and Methodology
Led by IIT Mandi Director Prof Laxmidhar Behera and Prof Chayan Kanti Nandi, the team used advanced live-cell microscopy to study anaesthesia effects on root cells of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and brinjal (Solanum melongena) plants. They observed a precisely ordered shutdown and recovery of internal cellular structures under anaesthetic stress.
Hierarchical Cascade of Organellar Silencing
In the first study, researchers described a “hierarchical cascade of organellar silencing,” where cellular components such as mitochondria, lysosomes, vesicle transport systems, chloroplasts and the nucleus shut down in a predictable sequence. Recovery occurred in the reverse order once anaesthetic was removed, with the nucleus acting as master controller coordinating restoration of normal functions.
Synchronised Nuclear Reorganisation
The second study revealed an even more striking phenomenon: under anaesthesia, nuclei across multiple plant cells reorganised simultaneously. Active DNA component euchromatin shifted to the outer edge of each nucleus in a synchronised manner, while inactive heterochromatin remained unchanged. This occurred despite the absence of neurons or known rapid communication systems.
According to researchers, this synchronised nuclear reorganisation may represent a conserved biomarker of the anaesthetised state in both neuronal and non-neuronal organisms.
Implications for Consciousness Research
The discovery raises new questions about how living systems coordinate responses at the cellular level and whether similar mechanisms exist across species. It revisits the long-debated “root brain” hypothesis, which proposes that the plant root apex functions as a decentralised information-processing centre.
Prof Behera said the findings resonate with Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) perspective that consciousness is a non-local property of living systems rather than confined to the brain. He emphasised that further research is needed to understand broader implications of the synchronised chromatin changes observed.
Future Research Directions
Building on these findings, the IIT Mandi team has extended investigations to Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a microscopic roundworm with a simple nervous system. If similar nuclear changes are observed, researchers believe it could strengthen evidence for a universal cellular signature associated with the anaesthetised state.
