| Title: | Herbivore-induced plant volatiles mediate defense regulation in maize leaves but not in maize roots |
| Author(s): | van Doan C; Zust T; Maurer C; Zhang X; Machado RAR; Mateo P; Ye M; Schimmel BCJ; Glauser G; Robert CAM; |
| Address: | "Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Neuchatel Platform of Analytical Chemistry, Universite de Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1365-3040 (Electronic) 0140-7791 (Print) 0140-7791 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Plant leaves that are exposed to herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) respond by increasing their defenses, a phenomenon referred to as priming. Whether this phenomenon also occurs in the roots is unknown. Using maize plants, Zea mays, whose leaves respond strongly to leaf HIPVs, we measured the impact of belowground HIPVs, emanating from roots infested by the banded cucumber beetle, Diabrotica balteata, on constitutive and herbivore-induced levels of defense-related gene expression, phytohormones, volatile and non-volatile primary and secondary metabolites, growth and herbivore resistance in roots of neighbouring plants. HIPV exposure did not increase constitutive or induced levels of any of the measured root traits. Furthermore, HIPV exposure did not reduce the performance or survival of D. balteata on maize or its ancestor teosinte. Cross-exposure experiments between HIPVs from roots and leaves revealed that maize roots, in contrast to maize leaves, neither emit nor respond strongly to defense-regulating HIPVs. Together, these results demonstrate that volatile-mediated defense regulation is restricted to the leaves of maize. This finding is in line with the lower diffusibility of volatiles in the soil and the availability of other, potentially more efficient, information conduits below ground" |
| Keywords: | Animals Coleoptera/physiology *Herbivory Plant Leaves/*metabolism Plant Roots/*metabolism Volatile Organic Compounds/*metabolism Zea mays/*physiology belowground plant-herbivore interactions plant-plant interactions priming root defenses; |
| Notes: | "Medlinevan Doan, Cong Zust, Tobias Maurer, Corina Zhang, Xi Machado, Ricardo A R Mateo, Pierre Ye, Meng Schimmel, Bernardus C J Glauser, Gaetan Robert, Christelle A M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2021/03/23 Plant Cell Environ. 2021 Aug; 44(8):2672-2686. doi: 10.1111/pce.14052. Epub 2021 Apr 6" |
