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Abstract:
As sessile organisms, plants cannot escape under attack. However, during evolution they developed at
least some subtle mechanisms to defend themselves. These mechanisms include physical barriers such as
thorns and trichomes but also chemical defenses. Plants are masters of chemistry and produce numerous
compounds, many of which are toxic or act as repellents to herbivorous attackers, mainly insects. In addition,
some indirect defenses are extremely sneaky. Typically, we see plant scent in the context of pollination.
Less known is the fact that also wounded plants release volatile compounds bearing information to their
environment. The particular information is included in the composition of the volatiles. Upon insect attack,
emitted volatiles bouquets can attract predators or parasitoids of the feeding herbivores, which in turn defend
the plant under attack. The encoded volatile information can be recognized not only by neighboring
conspecific plants but also by plants of a different species. Such neighboring plants use the information to
prepare themselves for future attack.
While these interactions are well studied in the labs we just learn to understand them in nature and use the knowledge for agriculture.
