Real-time detection of wound-induced H₂O₂ signalling waves in plants with optical nanosensors

Decoding wound signalling in plants is critical for understanding various aspects of plant sciences, from pest resistance to secondary metabolite and phytohormone biosynthesis. The plant defence responses are known to primarily involve NADPH-oxidase-mediated H₂O₂ and Ca²⁺ signalling pathways, which propagate across long distances through the plant vasculature and tissues. Using non-destructive optical nanosensors, we find that the H₂O₂ concentration profile post-wounding follows a logistic waveform for six plant species: lettuce (Lactuca sativa), arugula (Eruca sativa), spinach (Spinacia oleracea), strawberry blite (Blitum capitatum), sorrel (Rumex acetosa) and Arabidopsis thaliana, ranked in order of wave speed from 0.44 to 3.10 cm min⁻¹. The H₂O₂ wave tracks the concomitant surface potential wave measured electrochemically. We show that the plant RbohD glutamate-receptor-like channels (GLR3.3 and GLR3.6) are all critical to the propagation of the wound-induced H₂O₂ wave. Our findings highlight the utility of a new type of nanosensor probe that is species-independent and capable of real-time, spatial and temporal biochemical measurements in plants.