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Plant Physiol

Title:		The effects of abiotic factors on induced volatile emissions in corn plants
Author(s):		Gouinguene SP; Turlings TC;
Address:		"Institute of Zoology, Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Entomology, University of Neuchatel, Case Postale 2, CH-2007 Neuchatel, Switzerland"
Journal Title:		Plant Physiol
Year:		2002
Volume:		129
Issue:		3
Page Number:		1296 - 1307
DOI:		10.1104/pp.001941
ISSN/ISBN:		0032-0889 (Print) 1532-2548 (Electronic) 0032-0889 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Many plants respond to herbivory by releasing a specific blend of volatiles that is attractive to natural enemies of the herbivores. In corn (Zea mays), this induced odor blend is mainly composed of terpenoids and indole. The induced signal varies with plant species and genotype, but little is known about the variation due to abiotic factors. Here, we tested the effect of soil humidity, air humidity, temperature, light, and fertilization rate on the emission of induced volatiles in young corn plants. Each factor was tested separately under constant conditions for the other factors. Plants released more when standing in dry soil than in wet soil, whereas for air humidity, the optimal release was found at around 60% relative humidity. Temperatures between 22 degrees C and 27 degrees C led to a higher emission than lower or higher temperatures. Light intensity had a dramatic effect. The emission of volatiles did not occur in the dark and increased steadily with an increase in the light intensity. An experiment with an unnatural light-dark cycle showed that the release was fully photophase dependent. Fertilization also had a strong positive effect; the emission of volatiles was minimal when plants were grown under low nutrition, even when results were corrected for plant biomass. Changes in all abiotic factors caused small but significant changes in the relative ratios among the different compounds (quality) in the induced odor blends, except for air humidity. Hence, climatic conditions and nutrient availability can be important factors in determining the intensity and variability in the release of induced plant volatiles"
Keywords:		"Air/analysis Fertilizers Indoles/metabolism Light Odorants/analysis Oils, Volatile/metabolism Sesquiterpenes/*metabolism Signal Transduction/physiology Soil/analysis Stress, Mechanical Temperature Terpenes/*metabolism Water/pharmacology Zea mays/drug effe;"
Notes:		"MedlineGouinguene, Sandrine P Turlings, Ted C J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2002/07/13 Plant Physiol. 2002 Jul; 129(3):1296-307. doi: 10.1104/pp.001941"