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Plant Physiology 149:96-102 (2009) © 2009 American Society of Plant Biologists Indirect Defense Responses to Herbivory in Grasses1Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Pharmacy, D–06120 Halle, Germany
Insect resistance in grasses is the result of many defense mechanisms that act in parallel to limit the damage of herbivore attacks. Many of these defense mechanisms are based on plant secondary metabolites or defensive proteins that directly affect the herbivore due to their toxic or deterring properties. Less than two decades ago, a new type of defense mechanism, termed indirect defense, was first described in maize (Zea mays; Turlings et al., 1990
All grasses assayed to date respond to herbivore damage with the emission of a volatile blend consisting mostly of terpenes and products of the lipoxygenase pathway (Gouinguene et al., 2001
In Nicotiana attenuata, an Ile conjugate of jasmonic acid is crucial for the induction of nicotine production after herbivore damage to the plant. This conjugate interacts with the factor COI, an F-box protein essential for plant signaling processes (Paschold et al., 2007
In grasses, especially rice and maize, the biosynthesis of volatile terpenes has been studied in detail. Responsible for the high number of volatile mono- and sesquiterpenes in both species is the enzyme class of terpene synthases. In rice, three herbivore-induced terpene synthases are sufficient to produce the majority of the terpene volatiles (Yuan et al., 2008
Beyond their role in plant defense, the volatiles of maize plants were also shown to elicit responses in neighboring plants. This phenomenon, generally known as priming, involves increased transcription of defense-related genes and allows the plant to respond faster and more vigorously to herbivore attack (Baldwin et al., 2006
One of the first indirect defenses was identified in maize fed upon by larvae of the lepidopteran Egyptian cotton leaf worm, S. littoralis. The volatiles released in response to S. littoralis attack attract the parasitic braconid wasp Cotesia marginiventris (Hymenoptera), which oviposits into the larvae (Fig. 1 ; Turlings et al., 1990
Attempts to identify the terpene compounds crucial for the attraction of parasitic wasps have been hampered by the complexity of the blends and the difficulty of obtaining individual terpenes with the correct chirality for bioassays (Turlings et al., 1991 -bergamotene, and other herbivory-induced sesquiterpene hydrocarbons from the substrate farnesyl diphosphate (Figs. 1 and 2B). Overexpression of TPS10 in Arabidopsis resulted in plants emitting high quantities of TPS10 sesquiterpene products identical to those released by maize. Using these transgenic Arabidopsis plants as odor sources in olfactometric assays showed that females of the parasitoid C. marginiventris learn to exploit the TPS10 sesquiterpenes to locate their lepidopteran hosts after prior exposure to these volatiles in association with the host (Schnee et al., 2006
This gene-based dissection of the herbivore-induced volatile blend demonstrates that a single gene such as tps10 or tps23 can be sufficient to mediate the indirect defense of maize against herbivore attack. Furthermore, associative learning can also adapt parasitoids to alterations of the herbivore-induced volatile blend due to genotype, plant age, and abiotic conditions (Takabayashi et al., 1994
In rice, the induction of volatiles was observed after herbivory by the lepidopteran Spodoptera litura and the brown plant hopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera). The volatiles induced by S. litura are repellent to N. lugens, although this hemipteran was not deterred by volatiles induced by its own herbivory (Xu et al., 2002
Despite being covered by soil, roots are also subject to attack by herbivores. Although very little is known about indirect defense mechanisms below ground, it was often assumed that entomopathogenic nematodes are attracted to damaged roots via chemical cues (Boff et al., 2001
The volatile blends released by grasses in response to herbivory vary greatly in quantity and composition. In a sample of 32 maize lines, release rates from 0.7 to 54.2 µg h–1 g–1 leaf dry weight were observed and suggest that some maize varieties are much more capable of attracting herbivore enemies than others (Degen et al., 2004
The composition and biological activity of volatiles also changes over time after herbivore attack (Hoballah and Turlings, 2005
The high variation between volatile blends argues against a single volatile signal that is common to grasses. Especially in maize, the variation in volatiles between different genotypes appears too large to be perceived as a specific signal. However, C. marginiventris, like most other parasitic wasps, can associate a successful oviposition experience with the volatiles encountered at that time (Turlings et al., 1990
Below ground, the sesquiterpene (E)-β-caryophyllene was identified as a single compound attracting entomopathogenic nematodes to maize roots by D. v. virgifera (Rasmann et al., 2005
Biological control methods are often proposed as alternatives to synthetic insecticides in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of modern agriculture. In this context, natural enemies of herbivores show great promise to limit crop damage in an environmentally safe manner if they can be summoned in sufficient abundance during outbreaks. The complexity of the interaction between crop, herbivore, and its enemies requires very careful implementation of indirect defense strategies in agroecosystems (Degenhardt et al., 2003
Integrated pest management strategies to manipulate the abundance and distribution of natural enemies were already demonstrated to be successful (Khan et al., 1997
Alternatively, the manipulation of volatile emission in crop grasses may be a valuable strategy to improve attraction of herbivore enemies. This strategy might be aided by engineering of plants that emit strong, readily detectable volatiles that match the preferences of a particular enemy species (Degenhardt et al., 2003
In recent years, a growing number of volatile-mediated defense responses have been discovered in grasses. The complexity of the volatile blend and the large numbers of different herbivore enemies suggests that many more of these indirect defenses remain to be characterized. As we get a better understanding of the enzymes of volatile production and the pathways that regulate their activity, we acquire the molecular tools to engineer plants with a specifically altered volatile emission. These plants are valuable to identify the functions of particular volatiles and to develop novel defense strategies for crop plants. Application of these defense strategies in an agricultural setting might offer new, environmentally friendly approaches to increase insect resistance in grass crops.
We thank Susanne Preiss, Jonathan Gershenzon, and Tobias G. Köllner for helpful comments on the manuscript. Received September 1, 2008; accepted November 7, 2008; published January 7, 2009.
1 This work was supported in part by the German Research Foundation (grant no. DE8372–3). The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Jörg Degenhardt (joerg.degenhardt{at}pharmazie.uni-halle.de). www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.108.128975 * E-mail joerg.degenhardt{at}pharmazie.uni-halle.de.
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