Maize plants prime anti-herbivore responses by the memorizing and recalling of airborne information in their genome |
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Authors: | Koichi Sugimoto Gen-Ichiro Arimura |
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Institution: | 1.Center for Ecological Research; Kyoto University; Otsu, Japan;2.Department of Biological Science & Technology; Faculty of Industrial Science & Technology; Tokyo University of Science; Tokyo, Japan |
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Abstract: | Intact maize plants prime for defensive action against herbivory in response to herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) emitted from caterpillar-infested conspecific plants. The recent research showed that the primed defense in receiver plants that had been exposed to HIPVs was maintained for at least 5 d after exposure. Herbivory triggered the receiver plants to enhance the expression of a defense gene for trypsin inhibitor (TI). At the upstream sequence of a TI gene, non-methylated cytosine residues were observed in the genome of HIPV-exposed plants more frequently than in that of healthy plant volatile-exposed plants. These findings provide an innovative mechanism for the memory of HIPV-mediated habituation for plant defense. This mechanism and further innovations for priming of defenses via plant communications will contribute to the development of plant volatile-based pest management methods in agriculture and horticulture. |
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Keywords: | DNA methylation defense reaction herbivore-induced plant volatile memory plant– herbivore interaction plant– plant signaling primed defense |
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