Chemical Ecology Group

Inducing plant defence against pests and diseases with plant activators

Activating defence mechanisms and other useful traits in crop plants by means of benign chemical signals offers a new approach to pest control and other aspects of plant production. Semiochemicals such as the volatile cis-jasmone activate plant defence by altering plant metabolism.

cis-jasmone and Sitobion avenae, the grain aphid

We have shown that wheat plants induced with cis-jasmone have an altered volatile profile which repels aphids and reduces settlement on the treated plants. Bioassays with aphids on the treated plants have shown that growth and fecundity is significantly reduced. Furthermore, field plot trials over a number of years have demonstrated a consistent reduction in aphid infestation levels in treated plots compared with untreated control plots. Aphid parasitoids are attracted to cis-jasmone treated plants and forage for longer time periods on them.

Cumulative cereal aphid counts in field plot trials with cis-jasmone treatment 1999–2002 (control control: —— cisjasmone: - - -)

View Presentation, "Enhancing tritrophic interactions and biocontrol with cis-jasmone"

Publications

Toby J.A. Bruce, Michaela C. Matthes, Keith Chamberlain, Christine M. Woodcock, Abdul Mohib, Ben Webster, Lesley E. Smart, Michael A. Birkett, John A. Pickett, Johnathan A. Napier (2008) cis-Jasmone induces Arabidopsis genes that affect the chemical ecology of multitrophic interactions with aphids and their parasitoids. PNAS 105: 4553-4558 http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0710305105v1

Bruce, T.J.A., Martin, J.L., Pickett, J.A., Pye, B.J., Smart, L.E., Wadhams, L.J. cis-Jasmone treatment induces resistance in wheat plants against the grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) (Homoptera: Aphididae) (2003) Pest Manag. Sci. 59: 1031-1036.

Pickett, J.A., Rasmussen, H.B., Woodcock, C.M., Matthes, M., Napier, J.A. Plant stress signalling: Understanding and exploiting plant-plant interactions (2003) Biochem. Soc. Trans., 31: 123-127.

Bruce, T., Pickett, J., Smart, L. cis-Jasmone switches on plant defence against insects(2003) Pesticide Outlook, 14: 96-98.

Glinwood, R., Pettersson, J., Ahmed, E., Ninkovic, V., Birkett, M., Pickett, J. Change in acceptability of barley plants to aphids after exposure to allelochemicals from couch-grass (Elytrigia repens) (2003) J. Chem. Ecol., 29: 261-274.

Chamberlain, K., Guerrieri, E., Pennacchio, F., Pettersson, J., Pickett, J.A., Poppy, G.M., Powell, W., Wadhams, L.J., Woodcock, C.M. Can aphid-induced plant signals be transmitted aerially and through the rhizosphere? (2001) Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 29: 1063-1074.

Pickett, J.A., Poppy, G.M. Switching on plant genes by external chemical signals (2001) Trends in Plant Science, 6: 137-139.

Birkett, M.A., Campbell, C.A.M., Chamberlain, K., Guerrieri, E., Hick, A.J., Martin, J.L., Matthes, M., Napier, J.A., Pettersson, J., Pickett, J.A., Poppy, G.M., Pow, E.M., Pye, B.J., Smart, L.E., Wadhams, G.H., Wadhams, L.J., Woodcock, C.M. New roles for cis-jasmone as an insect semiochemical and in plant defense (2000) PNAS, 97: 9329-9334.

Chamberlain, K., Pickett, J.A., Woodcock, C.M. Plant signalling and induced defence in insect attack (2000) Mol. Plant Pathol., 1: 67-72.