Baldwin Ian T, Halitschke Rayko, Paschold Anja, von Dahl Caroline C, Preston Catherine A
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans Knöll Strasse 8, Jena 07745, Germany.
Science. 2006 Feb 10;311(5762):812-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1118446.
Plants may "eavesdrop" on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by herbivore-attacked neighbors to activate defenses before being attacked themselves. Transcriptome and signal cascade analyses of VOC-exposed plants suggest that plants eavesdrop to prime direct and indirect defenses and to hone competitive abilities. Advances in research on VOC biosynthesis and perception have facilitated the production of plants that are genetically "deaf" to particular VOCs or "mute" in elements of their volatile vocabulary. Such plants, together with advances in VOC analytical instrumentation, will allow researchers to determine whether fluency enhances the fitness of plants in natural communities.
植物可能会“窃听”食草动物攻击其邻居时释放的挥发性有机化合物（VOCs），从而在自身受到攻击之前激活防御机制。对暴露于VOCs的植物进行转录组和信号级联分析表明，植物通过窃听来启动直接和间接防御，并提升竞争能力。VOC生物合成与感知方面的研究进展，推动了对特定VOCs “听不见” 或在挥发性词汇元素方面 “沉默” 的转基因植物的培育。这类植物，再加上VOC分析仪器的进步，将使研究人员能够确定这种“语言能力”是否能提高植物在自然群落中的适应性。
