In a breakthrough that could reshape scientific understanding of consciousness, 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.
The findings, published in the journals Advanced Biology (2025) and Chemical and Biomedical Imaging (2026), suggest the possibility of a universal cellular biomarker for the anaesthetised state.
The research was led by IIT Mandi Director Prof Laxmidhar Behera and Prof Chayan Kanti Nandi along with their team.
Using advanced live-cell microscopy, the scientists studied the effects of anaesthesia on the root cells of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and brinjal (Solanum melongena) plants. Their work revealed that plant cells undergo a precisely ordered shutdown and recovery of their internal structures when exposed to anaesthetic stress.
In the first study, the 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 the anaesthetic was removed, with the nucleus acting as the master controller that coordinated the restoration of normal cellular functions.
The second study uncovered an even more striking phenomenon. Scientists observed that under anaesthesia, nuclei across multiple plant cells reorganised simultaneously. The active DNA component, known as euchromatin, shifted to the outer edge of each nucleus in a synchronised manner, while inactive heterochromatin remained unchanged.
This coordinated response occurred despite the absence of neurons or any known rapid communication system between cells.
According to the researchers, this synchronised nuclear reorganisation may represent a conserved biomarker of the anaesthetised state in both neuronal and non-neuronal organisms.
The discovery raises new questions about how living systems coordinate responses at the cellular level and whether similar mechanisms exist across species.
The study also revisits the long-debated “root brain” hypothesis, which proposes that the plant root apex functions as a decentralised information-processing centre, integrating sensory inputs and guiding adaptive behaviour.
Prof Behera said the findings resonate with the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) perspective that consciousness is a non-local property of living systems rather than being confined to the brain. He emphasised that further research is needed to understand the broader implications of the synchronised chromatin changes observed in plant cells.
Building on these findings, the IIT Mandi team has extended its investigations to Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a microscopic roundworm with a simple nervous system. If similar nuclear changes are observed, the researchers believe it could strengthen evidence for a universal cellular signature associated with the anaesthetised state.
