EN
Is communication the exclusive attribute of animals? It turns out that it is not. Mechanisms of signal transduction also exist in the world of plants. What’s more, these signals can be exchanged not only between plants but also between plants and microorganisms. Biochemical interactions in which one organism secretes compounds negatively or positively influencing the growth and development of another organism, are called allelopathy and the compounds – allelochemicals. They play a significant role in ecological interactions between organisms, which gives the possibility to apply allelochemicals in agricultural practice, e.g. in biological methods of dealing with weeds. This paper describes the characteristics of allelochemicals as well as the possibilities of their practical application in modern agriculture.