Wound and insect herbivory responsive genes in poplar.

Insect herbivory leads to induced resistance to subsequent infestations in plants. This is due in part to feeding-induced expression of genes that can lead to reduced palatability and/or digestibility of the plant material. We identified 57 distinct differentially expressed genes from poplars that were either infested by gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) or mechanically wounded. Eleven highly insect-inducible genes were also found to be wound-inducible. Time course analysis revealed diverse timing of peak transcript accumulation. Sequence analysis of promoters suggested that the wound responsive elements, W and DRE, and the jasmonic acid responsive H motif, are over-represented in wound-induced poplar promoters and should be investigated further.