Phyto-Informational Dynamics (PID): A New Theoretical Framework for Plant Stress Perception, Signal Integration, and Adaptive Decision-Making

Plants are continuously exposed to complex and fluctuating environmental stressors, including drought, salinity, temperature extremes, and biotic attacks. Classical models of plant stress biology largely focus on linear or semi-linear biochemical signaling cascades mediated by phytohormones, transcription factors, and second messengers. While these models have been instrumental in identifying molecular components, they fail to explain emergent properties such as systemic coordination, stress memory, priming, and phenotypic plasticity across spatial and temporal scales. Here, we introduce Phyto-Informational Dynamics (PID), a novel theoretical framework that conceptualizes plant stress responses as information processing systems rather than merely biochemical reactions. PID integrates principles from information theory, systems biology, and plant physiology to describe how environmental signals are encoded, transmitted, integrated, stored, and decoded within plant networks. We propose that stress signals operate as informational units that propagate through heterogeneous channels—including phytohormonal, electrical, hydraulic, and volatile organic compound (VOC) pathways—each characterized by distinct capacities, noise profiles, and feedback loops. PID provides quantitative descriptors for stress signaling efficiency, predicts adaptive outcomes, and offers a unifying framework to reconcile molecular, cellular, and whole-plant responses. This theory opens new avenues for predictive stress biology and rational crop improvement strategies. Keywords Plant stress biology; information theory; signaling networks; phytohormones; systems biology; stress memory; phenotypic plasticity