研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),，當(dāng)毛蟲開始啃咬野生煙草植物的時(shí)候,，它們的唾液會(huì)使植物發(fā)出一種緊急求助信號(hào),，這種信號(hào)會(huì)使捕食性的昆蟲飛來營(yíng)救,。 植物在受到損害時(shí)即刻散發(fā)出的化合物被稱作“綠葉揮發(fā)性物質(zhì)”,，或“GLVs”,。如果你曾經(jīng)聞到過新近切割過的草的氣味的話,，那么你就已經(jīng)聞到過綠葉揮發(fā)性物質(zhì)（GLVs）了。 科學(xué)家們?cè)?jīng)將綠葉揮發(fā)性物質(zhì)（GLVs）看作是一般的遇險(xiǎn)信號(hào),，而不是在植物受到攻擊的一天之后發(fā)出的更具有受到食草動(dòng)物損害特異性的信號(hào),。 德國(guó)科學(xué)家Silke Allmann和Ian Baldwin如今報(bào)告說，這些綠葉揮發(fā)性物質(zhì)（GLVs）實(shí)際上是極具特異性的,，至少在野生煙草植物“漸狹葉煙草”中是這樣,。 他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)煙草天蛾幼蟲（Manduca sexta）攻擊這些植物時(shí),，其唾液會(huì)引起一種該植物所產(chǎn)生的綠葉揮發(fā)性物質(zhì)（GLVs）化合物的化學(xué)變化,。 這些改變的化合物接著會(huì)吸引捕食性的“蝽類昆蟲” Geocoris，而后者會(huì)捕食天蛾的卵及幼齡幼蟲,。 研究人員說,，盡管需要開展更多的研究才能搞清該毛蟲唾液中的分子究竟是如何引起綠葉揮發(fā)性物質(zhì)（GLVs）的變化，但清楚的是,，這一綠葉揮發(fā)性物質(zhì)（GLVs）信號(hào)的變化是由毛蟲本身引起的,。 因此，將來人們有可能通過基因工程來誘導(dǎo)相同類型的變化,，并在不會(huì)刺激害蟲產(chǎn)生對(duì)殺蟲劑的抵抗力的情況下來保護(hù)植物,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1191634
Insects Betray Themselves in Nature to Predators by Rapid Isomerization of Green Leaf Volatiles
Silke Allmann1,2 and Ian T. Baldwin1,*
Plants emit green leaf volatiles (GLVs) in response to herbivore damage, thereby attracting predators of the herbivores as part of an indirect defense. The GLV component of this indirect defense was thought to be a general wound signal lacking herbivore-specific information. We found that Manduca sexta–infested Nicotiana attenuata attract the generalist hemipteran predator Geocoris spp. as the result of an herbivore-induced decrease in the (Z)/(E) ratio of released GLVs, and that these changes in the volatile bouquet triple the foraging efficiency of predators in nature. These (E)-isomers are produced from plant-derived (Z)-isomers but are converted by a heat-labile constituent of herbivore oral secretions. Hence, attacking herbivores initiate the release of an indirect defense a full day before the attacked plants manufacture their own defensive compounds.
1 Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Kn?ll-Str. 8, DE-07745 Jena, Germany.
2 Department of Plant Physiology, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands.
