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Airborne signals synchronize the defenses of neighboring plants in response to touch.

ABSTRACT: Plants activate defense-related pathways in response to subtle abiotic or biotic disturbances, changing their volatile profile rapidly. How such perturbations reach and potentially affect neighboring plants is less understood. We evaluated whether brief and light touching had a cascade effect on the profile of volatiles and gene expression of the focal plant and a neighboring untouched plant. Within minutes after contact, Zea mays showed an up-regulation of certain defense genes and increased the emission of specific volatiles that primed neighboring plants, making them less attractive for aphids. Exposure to volatiles from touched plants activated many of the same defense-related genes in non-touched neighboring plants, demonstrating a transcriptional mirroring effect for expression of genes up-regulated by brief contact. Perception of so-far-overlooked touch-induced volatile organic compounds was of ecological significance as these volatiles are directly involved in plant-plant communication as an effective trigger for rapid defense synchronization among nearby plants. Our findings shed new light on mechanisms of plant responses to mechanical contact at the molecular level and on the ecological role of induced volatiles as airborne signals in plant-plant interactions.

SUBMITTER: Markovic D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6322579 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Airborne signals from a wounded leaf facilitate viral spreading and induce antibacterial resistance in neighboring plants.

Project description:Many plants release airborne volatile compounds in response to wounding due to pathogenic assault. These compounds serve as plant defenses and are involved in plant signaling. Here, we study the effects of pectin methylesterase (PME)-generated methanol release from wounded plants ("emitters") on the defensive reactions of neighboring "receiver" plants. Plant leaf wounding resulted in the synthesis of PME and a spike in methanol released into the air. Gaseous methanol or vapors from wounded PME-transgenic plants induced resistance to the bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum in the leaves of non-wounded neighboring "receiver" plants. In experiments with different volatile organic compounds, gaseous methanol was the only airborne factor that could induce antibacterial resistance in neighboring plants. In an effort to understand the mechanisms by which methanol stimulates the antibacterial resistance of "receiver" plants, we constructed forward and reverse suppression subtractive hybridization cDNA libraries from Nicotiana benthamiana plants exposed to methanol. We identified multiple methanol-inducible genes (MIGs), most of which are involved in defense or cell-to-cell trafficking. We then isolated the most affected genes for further analysis: ?-1,3-glucanase (BG), a previously unidentified gene (MIG-21), and non-cell-autonomous pathway protein (NCAPP). Experiments with Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and a vector encoding two tandem copies of green fluorescent protein as a tracer of cell-to-cell movement showed the increased gating capacity of plasmodesmata in the presence of BG, MIG-21, and NCAPP. The increased gating capacity is accompanied by enhanced TMV reproduction in the "receivers". Overall, our data indicate that methanol emitted by a wounded plant acts as a signal that enhances antibacterial resistance and facilitates viral spread in neighboring plants.

| S-EPMC3320592 | biostudies-literature

Volatile Signals From Guava Plants Prime Defense Signaling and Increase Jasmonate-Dependent Herbivore Resistance in Neighboring Citrus Plants.

Project description:Intercropping can reduce agricultural pest incidence and represents an important sustainable alternative to conventional pest control methods. Citrus intercropped with guava (Psidium guajava L.) has a lower incidence of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama) and huanglongbing disease (HLB), but the mechanisms are still unknown. In this study, we tested whether volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by guava plants play a role in plant-plant communications and trigger defense responses in sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) in the laboratory. The results showed that the behavioral preference and developmental performance of ACP on citrus plants that were exposed to guava VOCs were suppressed. The expression of defense-related pathways involved in early signaling, jasmonate (JA) biosynthesis, protease inhibitor (PI), terpenoid, phenylpropanoid, and flavonoid biosynthesis was induced in guava VOC-exposed citrus plants. Headspace analysis revealed that guava plants constitutively emit high levels of (E)-β-caryophyllene and (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT), which can induce the accumulation of JA and promote stronger defense responses of citrus to ACP feeding. In addition, exposure to guava VOCs also increased the indirect defense of citrus by attracting the parasitic wasp Tamarixia radiata. Together, our findings indicate that citrus plants can eavesdrop on the VOC cues emitted by neighboring intact guava plants to boost their JA-dependent anti-herbivore activities. The knowledge gained from this study will provide mechanisms underlying citrus-guava intercropping for the ecological management of insect pests.

| S-EPMC8965645 | biostudies-literature

Differentially timed extracellular signals synchronize pacemaker neuron clocks.

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| S-EPMC4181961 | biostudies-literature

In touch: Cardiac and respiratory patterns synchronize during ensemble singing with physical contact.

Project description:Musical ensemble performances provide an ideal environment to gain knowledge about complex human interactions. Network structures of synchronization can reflect specific roles of individual performers on the one hand and a higher level of organization of all performers as a superordinate system on the other. This study builds on research on joint singing, using hyperscanning of respiration and heart rate variability (HRV) from eight professional singers. Singers performed polyphonic music, distributing their breathing within the same voice and singing without and with physical contact: that is touching each other's shoulder or waist. The idea of singing with touch was motivated by historical depictions of ensemble performances that showed singers touching each other. It raises the question of the potential benefit of touch for group performances. From a psycho-physiological point of view, physical contact should increase the synchronization of singing coordination. The results confirm previous findings on synchronization of respiration and HRV during choir singing and extend those findings to a non-homophonic musical repertoire while also revealing an increase in synchronization in respiration during physical contact. These effects were significant across different frequency ranges. The effect of physical contact was stronger when all singers were singing in comparison to the partial ensemble. Importantly, the synchronization could not be fully explained by the singing action (i.e., singing the same voice, or singing vs. listening) or by the standing position or touch. This finding suggests a higher level of organization of all singers, forming a superordinate system.

| S-EPMC9390082 | biostudies-literature

RNAseq on touch-treated Arabidopsis thaliana plants

Project description:RNAseq analysis to get time-resolved insight into early responses to mechanical stimulation.

2019-10-29 | E-MTAB-8021 | biostudies-arrayexpress

Cholinergic circuits integrate neighboring visual signals in a Drosophila motion detection pathway.

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| S-EPMC3265035 | biostudies-literature

Unpalatable plants induce a species-specific associational effect on neighboring communities.

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| S-EPMC8277879 | biostudies-literature

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Parallel thalamic pathways for whisking and touch signals in the rat.

Project description:In active sensation, sensory information is acquired via movements of sensory organs; rats move their whiskers repetitively to scan the environment, thus detecting, localizing, and identifying objects. Sensory information, in turn, affects future motor movements. How this motor-sensory-motor functional loop is implemented across anatomical loops of the whisker system is not yet known. While inducing artificial whisking in anesthetized rats, we recorded the activity of individual neurons from three thalamic nuclei of the whisker system, each belonging to a different major afferent pathway: paralemniscal, extralemniscal (a recently discovered pathway), or lemniscal. We found that different sensory signals related to active touch are conveyed separately via the thalamus by these three parallel afferent pathways. The paralemniscal pathway conveys sensor motion (whisking) signals, the extralemniscal conveys contact (touch) signals, and the lemniscal pathway conveys combined whisking-touch signals. This functional segregation of anatomical pathways raises the possibility that different sensory-motor processes, such as those related to motion control, object localization, and object identification, are implemented along different motor-sensory-motor loops.

| S-EPMC1436027 | biostudies-literature

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| S-EPMC4804164 | biostudies-literature

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