​Indole is an essential herbivore-induced volatile priming signal in maize

Erb, Matthias; Veyrat, Nathalie; Robert, Christelle A. M.; Xu, Hao; Frey, Monika; Ton, Jurriaan; Turlings, Ted C. J. (2015). ​Indole is an essential herbivore-induced volatile priming signal in maize. Nature communications, 6(1), p. 6273. Nature Publishing Group 10.1038/ncomms7273

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Herbivore-induced volatile organic compounds prime non-attacked plant tissues to respond more strongly to subsequent attacks. However, the key volatiles that trigger this primed state remain largely unidentified. In maize, the release of the aromatic compound ​indole is herbivore-specific and occurs earlier than other induced responses. We therefore hypothesized that ​indole may be involved in airborne priming. Using ​indole-deficient mutants and synthetic indole dispensers, we show that herbivore-induced ​indole enhances the induction of defensive volatiles in neighbouring maize plants in a species-specific manner. Furthermore, the release of ​indole is essential for priming of mono- and homoterpenes in systemic leaves of attacked plants. ​Indole exposure markedly increases the herbivore-induced production of the stress hormones ​jasmonate-isoleucine conjugate and ​abscisic acid, which represents a likely mechanism for ​indole-dependent priming. These results demonstrate that ​indole functions as a rapid and potent aerial priming agent that prepares systemic tissues and neighbouring plants for incoming attacks.

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