Airborne signals from a wounded leaf facilitate viral spreading and induce antibacterial resistance in neighboring plants.

ABSTRACT: Many plants release airborne volatile compounds in response to wounding due to pathogenic assault. These compounds serve as plant defenses and are involved in plant signaling. Here, we study the effects of pectin methylesterase (PME)-generated methanol release from wounded plants ("emitters") on the defensive reactions of neighboring "receiver" plants. Plant leaf wounding resulted in the synthesis of PME and a spike in methanol released into the air. Gaseous methanol or vapors from wounded PME-transgenic plants induced resistance to the bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum in the leaves of non-wounded neighboring "receiver" plants. In experiments with different volatile organic compounds, gaseous methanol was the only airborne factor that could induce antibacterial resistance in neigh

SUBMITTER: Dorokhov YL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3320592 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature