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Pest management using mint volatiles to elicit resistance in soy: mechanism and application potential
Author(s) -
Sukegawa Satoru,
Shiojiri Kaori,
Higami Tomota,
Suzuki Syunpei,
Arimura Genichiro
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.14077
Subject(s) - biology , pest analysis , integrated pest management , herbivore , botany , plant defense against herbivory , defence mechanisms , brassica rapa , elicitor , brassica , horticulture , agronomy , gene , biochemistry
SUMMARY Plants can eavesdrop on volatile cues emitted from neighboring plants to boost their defense responses. When 10 categories of mints were tested for their effects on Glycine max (soybean) plants cultivated nearby, candy mint ( Mentha × piperita cv. Candy) and peppermint ( Mentha × piperita L.) induced the strongest enhancement in RNA levels of defense genes in the soybean leaves. The mechanism by which the mint volatiles enhanced these transcript levels was based on histone acetylation within the promoter regions of defense genes. These increases in transcript levels were induced when receiver plants were cultivated near to candy mint, but the priming of the defense responses was instead induced when receiver plants were cultivated at mid‐length intervals. Field assays revealed that anti‐herbivore ability of soy was strengthened both by co‐cultivation and by pre‐incubation of receiver plants with candy mint. The same held true for another receiver, Brassica rapa , when the receiver was co‐cultivated or pre‐incubated with peppermint. Exposure to mint volatiles resulted in lower damage to receiver plants, although ecological effects on the herbivores and predators probably also contributed. Together, our findings indicate that pest management systems relying on mint as companion plants might be commercially useful for reducing herbivore damage in crops.