Biologists discover an on/off button on plants' alarm system
Thursday, April 1, 2010 - 21:49
in Biology & Nature
Plants respond to attacks by herbivores or pathogens by activating defense programs that drive off or even kill the attackers. These defense responses require a great deal of the plant's energy and reserves, which would otherwise be invested in growth and reproduction. So, it's very important to strictly control the activity of defense genes. Hormones, such as the jasmonates, are crucial in this process – and the plant produces these hormones when subjected to stress conditions.