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Cover image

On the Cover: The plant circadian clock has emerged as an important regulator of plant defense. This cover image shows a generalist herbivore Spodoptera littoralis feeding on a wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata leaf. Li et al. found that silencing of the circadian clock gene ZEITLUPE (ZTL) attenuates nicotine biosynthesis and thereby, resistance to S. littoralis. Furthermore, ZTL directly interacts with JASMONATE ZIM domain (JAZ) proteins, a component of jasmonate co-receptor, thereby regulating a JAZ-MYC2 module that is required for nicotine biosynthesis. Picture by Dr Danny Kessler, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.