Plants face a daunting array of creatures that eat them, bore into them, and otherwise use virtually every plant part for food, shelter, or both. But although plants cannot flee from their attackers, they are far from defenseless. In addition to adaptations like thorns, which may be produced in response to attack, plants actively alter their chemistry and physiology in response to damage. For instance, young potato plant leaves being eaten by potato beetles respond by producing chemicals that inhibit beetle digestive enzymes. Over the past fifteen years, research on these induced responses to herbivory has flourished, and here Richard Karban and Ian T. Baldwin present the first comprehensive evaluation and synthesis of this rapidly developing field. They provide state-of-the-discipline reviews and highlight areas where new research will be most productive. Their comprehensive overview will be welcomed by a wide variety of theoretical and applied researchers in ecology, evolutionary biology, plant biology, entomology, and agriculture.

Vectors of Plant Pathogens is a collection of papers that discusses the interrelationship of plant pathogens with their vectors. This collection deals with the numerous vector groups associated with plant pathogens. One paper describes the biology, feeding behavior and distribution of aphids, leafhoppers, plant hoppers, mealy bugs, whiteflies, psyllids, membracids. Another paper addresses the virus transmission characteristics of the mealy bugs during preliminary fasting or feeding, acquisition access time, post-acquisition fasting or feeding, and the inoculation access time. Other papers also discuss the involvement of insects in transmitting bacterial and fungal pathogens; the authors list unresolved issues such as the role of insects in overwintering of bacterial pathogens or the association of the fungus with a particular vector. One author describes some suspected fungi transmission such as the pea stem necrosis virus, red clover necrotic mosaic virus, and the tomato bushy stunt virus. Another paper examines the fate of plant viruses in mite vectors and convectors particularly the viruses found in wheat, barley, or brome grass. Agriculturists, botanists, and researchers in the field of botany, conservation, and plant genealogy will find this book useful.

This timely book provides an overview of the anatomical, chemical, and developmental features contributing to plant defense, with an emphasis on plant responses that are induced by wounding or herbivore attack. The book first introduces general concepts of direct and indirect defenses, followed by a focused review of the different resistance traits. Finally, signal perception and transduction mechanism for the activation of plant defense responses are discussed.

Insect-Plant Interactions and Induced Plant Defence Chair: John A. Pickett, 1999 This book examines the sophisticated mechanisms that plants use to defend themselves against attack by insects and pathogens, focusing on the networks of plant signalling pathways that underlie these defences. In response to herbivory, plants release a complex blend of as many as 100 volatile chemicals, known as semiochemicals ('sign chemicals'). These act as an airborne SOS signal, revealing the presence of the herbivore to the predators and parasitoids that are its natural enemies. Plants also have endogenous defence mechanisms that can be induced in response to pathogens, and separate chapters deal with systemic acquired resistance, phytoalexins, and the interacting pathways in pathogen and pest resistance. The book discusses underlying biochemical mechanisms by which plant stress leads to the biosynthesis of chemical signals from pools of secondary metabolite precursors, or even from the primary metabolism source. Finally, consideration is given to the possibilities for exploiting these signalling pathways by plant molecular genetics. The use of plant signals and their analogues to switch on defence pathways in crop plants is covered in depth. Bringing together contributions from entomologists, chemical ecologists, molecular biologists and plant physiologists this book is truly interdisciplinary, and will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in agricultural pest control.

Plants are members of complex communities and interact both with antagonists and beneficial organisms. An important question in plant defense-signaling research is how plants integrate signals induced by pathogens, insect herbivores and beneficial microbes into the most appropriate adaptive response. Molecular and genomic tools are now being used to uncover the complexity of the induced defense signaling networks that have evolved during the arms races between plants and the other organisms with which they intimately interact. To understand the functioning of the complex defense signaling network in nature, molecular biologists and ecologists have joined forces to place molecular mechanisms of induced plant defenses in an ecological perspective. In this Research Topic, we aim to provide an on-line, open-access snapshot of the current state of the art of the field of induced plant responses to microbes and insects, with a special focus on the translation of molecular mechanisms to ecology and vice versa.

Recent years have seen tremendous progress in unraveling the molecular basis of different plant-microbe interactions. Knowledge has accumulated on the mecha nisms of the microbial infection of plants, which can lead to either disease or resistance. The mechanisms developed by plants to interact with microbes, whether viruses, bacteria, or fungi, involve events that can lead to symbiotic association or to disease or tumor formation. Cell death caused by pathogen infection has been of great interest for many years because of its association with plant resistance. There appear to be two types of plant cell death associated with pathogen infection, a rapid hypersensitive cell death localized at the site of infection during an incompatible interaction between a resistant plant and an avirulent pathogen, and a slow, normosensitive plant cell death that spreads beyond the site of infection during some compatible interactions involving a susceptible plant and a virulent, necrogenic pathogen. Plants possess a number of defense mechanisms against infection, such as (i) production of phytoalexin, (ii) formation of hydrolases, (iii) accumulation of hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein and lignin deposition, (iv) production of pathogen-related proteins, (v) produc tion of oligosaccharides, jasmonic acid, and various other phenolic substances, and (vi) production of toxin-metabolizing enzymes. Based on these observations, insertion of a single suitable gene in a particular plant has yielded promising results in imparting resistance against specific infection or disease. It appears that a signal received after microbe infection triggers different signal transduction pathways.

This book investigates the induced responses of plants to herbivores and to diseases. Plant pathologists and entomologists will find that their disciplines have a lot in common when it comes to the interest in the transduction signals of plants that mediate induced responses. Induced Plant Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores will allow these two disciplines to converse and learn from their similarities and differences.

Authored by an integrated committee of plant and animal scientists, this review of newer molecular genetic techniques and traditional research methods is presented as a compilation of high-reward opportunities for agricultural research. Directed to the Agricultural Research Service and the agricultural research community at large, the volume discusses biosciences research in genetic engineering, animal science, plant science, and plant diseases and insect pests. An optimal climate for productive research is discussed.

Insects are a dominant component of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role in mediating the relationship between plants and ecosystem processes. This volume examines their effects on ecosystem functioning, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on herbivorous insects. Renowned authors with extensive experience in the field of plant-insect interactions, contribute to the volume using examples from their own work.