Volatile-Mediated Signalling Between Potato Plants in Response to Insect Herbivory is not Contingent on Soil Nutrients.

ABSTRACT: Plant-plant signalling via volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been studied intensively, but its contingency on abiotic conditions (e.g., soil nutrients, drought, warming) is poorly understood. To address this gap, we carried out a greenhouse experiment testing whether soil nutrients influenced signalling between potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants in response to insect leaf herbivory by the generalist caterpillar Spodoptera exigua. We placed pairs of plants in plastic cages, where one plant acted as a VOC emitter and the other as a receiver. We factorially manipulated soil nutrients for both emitter and receiver plants, namely: unfertilized (baseline soil nutrients) vs. fertilized (augmented nutrients). Then, to test for signalling effects, half of the emitters within each fertilization l

SUBMITTER: Martin-Cacheda L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10725352 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature