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Scientists found that when the Arabidopsis thaliana (pictured) experiences warmer temperatures, it produces protein that helps seeds germinate faster

Despite their seemingly inactive appearance, plants play a role in parenting their offspring, new research has claimed.

A study has found that plants 'teach' their seeds about the changing seasons, helping them to sprout at the perfect time.

Using a flowering plant, scientists demonstrated that 'mother' plants sense temperature changes and use this information to form a long-term memory that they pass down.

This in turn affects when the seed germinates, to give them the best chance of flourishing.

Scientists found that when the Arabidopsis thaliana plant experiences warmer temperatures, it produced more of a protein called Flowering Locus T (FT) which suppresses the production of tannins in its fruit, making seed coats thinner and more permeable. 

This means they germinate more quickly.

Conversely, if the mother plant experiences cooler temperatures before flowering, it produces less FT protein and more tannins. 

Seed coats will be thicker, less permeable and will germinate later. In this way, the mother plant can manipulate seed germination to be optimal for the time of year.

The FT protein is known to influence when a plant flowers depending on the length of day. The research also showed that the influence of this protein on seed dormancy was entirely separate from its influence on flowering time.

Experts hope that understanding how plants communicate with their seeds will be a valuable tool in improving crop yields in the face of a changing climate.

'By understanding how the mother plant uses temperature information to influence the vigour of her seeds we can begin to develop strategies for breeding seeds with more resilience to climate change,' said Steven Penfield of the John Innes Centre in Norwich who led the study.

'This work demonstrates the importance of growing conditions throughout the life cycle of the plant.

'In terms of crop plants, it highlights how adverse environmental conditions can have a negative impact on seed quality,' added Professor Ian Graham of the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products at the University of York.

Conversely, if the mother plant experiences cooler temperatures before flowering (stock image), it produces less FT protein and more tannins. Seed coats therefore become thicker, less permeable and will germinate later. In this way, the mother plant can manipulate seed germination to be optimal for the time of year

Elsewhere, scientists have discovered how plants use a newly discovered 'language' to communicate in a far less benign way.

The finding opens the door to a new area of science that explores how plants communicate with each other on a molecular level.

It could also give scientists new insights into how to fight parasitic weeds that devastate food crops in some of the poorest parts of the world.

Professor Westwood, an expert in plant pathology, physiology and weed science at Virginia Tech, said: 'The discovery of this novel form of inter-organism communication shows that this is happening a lot more than any one has previously realised.

'Now that we have found that they are sharing all this information, the next question is, 'What exactly are they telling each other?''

DO PLANTS 'CHAT' TO EACH OTHER TO WARN OF PREDATORS?

Another recent study found that members of the vegetable kingdom can communicate with each other.

They are 'capable of more sophisticated behaviour than we imagined,' says American bug expert Professor Richard Karban.

Another study found that plants communicate with each other. When a neighbouring plant 'hears' the message, it boosts its defences against grasshoppers (pictured)

His work, which he admits is 'controversial', suggested that plants 'chat' by sending chemical messages through the air, warning of hungry predators.

When a neighbouring plant 'hears' the message, it boosts its defences against grasshoppers, caterpillars and other invaders, he believes.

Professor Karban, of the University of California, claimed to have proved that conversations happen between sagebrush bushes - hardy, yellow-flowered shrubs native to the western U.S.

Using scissors, he clipped away at leaves and stems of potted shrubs, damaging them in the same way as a grasshopper would.

He then planted some damaged and undamaged plants in a field and measured levels of predation on their neighbours.

The leaves of the plants with clipped neighbours suffered the least grasshopper damage, according to the journal Ecology Letters. 

Professor Westwood examined the relationship between a parasitic plant called dodder, and two host plants, Arabidopsis and tomatoes.

In order to suck the moisture and nutrients out of the host plants, dodder uses a root-like appendage called a haustorium to penetrate the plant.

Professor Westwood has previously discovered that during this parasitic interaction, there is a transport of RNA between the two species.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a family of large biological molecules that code and decode information passed down from its DNA.

His new work expands the scope of this exchange and examines the mRNA, or messenger RNA, which sends messages within cells telling them which actions to take, such as which proteins to code.

It was thought that mRNA was very fragile and short-lived, so transferring it between species was impossible.

But Professor Westwood found that during this parasitic relationship, thousands upon thousands of mRNA molecules were being exchanged between both plants, creating an open dialogue between the species that allows them to freely communicate.

Through this exchange, the parasitic plants may be instructing the host plant to lower its defences so that they can more easily attack it.