Have you ever wondered about that sharp, green note that hits your nose when you mow the lawn or cut flower stems? Those are green leaf volatiles, or GLVs, easily evaporated oils that plants use to communicate with other plants and defend themselves against herbivores or pathogens like bacteria or fungi.
Almost every green plant can quickly synthesize and release GLVs when attacked, both directly warding off attackers as well as indirectly attracting predators of herbivores like insects and priming the plant’s other defense mechanisms. Researchers know that GLVs play an important role in protecting plants, but how they work remains unclear.
In a recently published research, scientists have identified the potential signaling pathways GLVs use to induce defense responses in tomato cells. Their ultimate goal is to figure out ways to use GLVs to control agricultural pests for cleaner farming. Plants employ many defense systems to protect themselves. The first line of defense involves detecting microbial invaders and the presence of damage using damage-associated molecular patterns, or DAMPs, which are molecules released by damaged or dying cells.
When a cell identifies a DAMP, it triggers an immune response and promotes repair mechanisms. It also leads to changes in calcium ion concentration, further activating immune-related genes and proteins. DAMPs also turn on proteins common in many stress-signaling pathways that activate other defense responses.
Many studies have shown that the effects of GLVs are similar to DAMPs. Therefore, scientists wanted to prove whether GLVs may also act as DAMPs.
Read more at inverse.com
