Maize plants prime anti-herbivore responses by the memorizing and recalling of airborne information in their genome

Abstract

Intact maize plants prime for defensive action against herbivory in response to herbivore-induced plant volatiles (hiPVs) emitted from caterpillar-infested conspecifc 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 fndings 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. © 2013 Landes Bioscience.