Author
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Pare, Paul |
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Tumlinson Iii, James |
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Submitted to: Plant Physiology Supplement
Publication Type: Review Article Publication Acceptance Date: 6/16/1999 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Plants respond to insect feeding damage by synthesizing and releasing volatile organic compounds that attract natural enemies of the insect herbivores. In all plants investigated thus far there are notable similarities in the structures of the volatile compounds emitted, suggesting the activation of a common set of biosynthetic pathways shared by a wide range of plant families. However, plants have the ability to distinguish between different species of herbivore as well as between herbivore damage and mechanical damage, and to release different proportions or blends of volatile compounds in response to different stimuli. Although some volatile compounds are released from storage in plants immediately whenever damage to cells or glands occurs, others are synthesized de novo and released only during the light period. This often results in a delay between feeding damage and release of volatiles. Plants release the induced compounds from undamaged as well as damaged leaves. Thus, damage to only a few leaves results in a systemic response and release of volatiles by the entire plant. Biosynthesis of volatiles by plants is triggered by compounds in the oral secretions of the herbivores that interact with damage plant tissues. Elicitors in the oral secretions of beet armyworm caterpillars have been identified as N-(17-hydroxylinolenoyl)-L-glutamine (volicitin) and the analogous N-linolenoyl-L-glutamine. The structure of these elicitors suggests that they interact in some way, as yet undetermined, with the octadecanoid signaling pathway in plants. |
