Ultrasound in Plant Life and Its Application Perspectives in Horticulture and Agriculture

Acoustic vibrations may induce different changes in plants that perceive them, and plants themselves can also emit acoustic signals. The aim of this review was to cover the past ten years of plant acoustic research and its shortcomings, with a focus on the reflecting, sensing, and emission of ultrasound by plants. Ultrasonication may alter plant growth and development, and an increasing number of studies are being carried out to investigate its effects on both in vitro plant culture and greenhouse or field plant production, as well as on the biochemical and molecular functions of plants. In this paper, we summarized the progress in the use of ultrasound in horticulture and agriculture for enhancing plant growth and development, either in vitro or in vivo, improving yield and crop quality and increasing stress tolerance, as well as for special methodological applications, like sonication-assisted Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Some research gaps, such as the lack of a precise mechanism for plant ultrasound emission, the possible participation of some reactive radicals in ultrasound signaling, the effect of ultrasound on the epigenome, the role of ultrasound in plant-to-plant communication, and whether there is a specific, sound perceiving organ, etc., were also presented. In addition, a predictive vision is described of how ultrasonication of plants and ultrasound detection emitted by plants can be used in the future to develop green and sustainable agricultural and horticultural technologies. Furthermore, based on our current knowledge, a proposal is presented to combine them with machine learning and artificial intelligence for developing novel production technologies.