A maize sesquiterpene cyclase gene induced by insect herbivory and volicitin: characterization of wild-type and mutant alleles.

ABSTRACT: Plants can defend themselves from herbivorous insects by emitting volatile chemical signals that attract natural enemies of the herbivore. For example, maize seedlings attacked by beet armyworm larvae (Spodoptera exigua) produce a mixture of terpenoid and indole volatiles that serve to attract parasitic wasps. A key step in terpenoid biosynthesis is the conversion of acyclic prenyl diphosphates to terpenoid compounds by specific terpenoid synthases (cyclases). We have cloned a maize sesquiterpene cyclase gene, stc1, by transposon tagging and have identified two deletion mutations of the gene. The stc1 gene is located on chromosome 9S and does not seem to have a closely related ortholog in the maize genome. It is induced 15- to 30-fold in maize leaves by beet armyworm larvae feeding or by a

SUBMITTER: Shen B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC19000 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature