Sugars in the cornfield: Plants use defenses against pests, but they don't always work
Friday, September 26, 2014 - 05:31
in Biology & Nature
Grasses and crops such as maize attach sugars to chemical defenses called benzoxazinoids to protect themselves from being poisoned by their own protective agents. Then, when an insect starts feeding, a plant enzyme removes the sugar to deploy the active toxin. Scientists have now discovered why this defensive strategy fails to work against Spodoptera larvae. Armyworms deactivate the maize chemical defense by reattaching the sugar in the opposite configuration.