Systemic defense signaling in Austrian pine.
Ghosh SK, Poelstra JW, Mackey D, Bonello P
Plant Signaling
Pine trees lining your neighborhood streets and local parks are quietly waging chemical warfare against lethal fungi, and cracking the code of how they do it could unlock new ways to protect forests before disease outbreaks turn green canopies into standing deadwood.
When a harmful fungus attacks an Austrian pine, the tree doesn't just defend the wound site — it sends chemical alarm signals throughout its entire body to prepare for further attack. Scientists found that two key plant hormones act as a relay team: one launches the initial alert shortly after infection, while the other keeps the defense response going strong over time. A third, airborne form of that second hormone appears to physically travel from the infected spot to distant parts of the tree, spreading the warning.
Key Findings
Early abscisic acid (ABA) signaling is the first hormone wave after infection, initiating the systemic defense response in Austrian pine against Diplodia pinea
Sustained jasmonic acid (JA) signaling — confirmed by both hormone measurements and gene expression data — is required for full activation of whole-tree induced resistance
Mobile methyl jasmonate (MeJA) serves as a long-distance defense signal, with its spatiotemporal accumulation pattern matching genes involved in systemic signal propagation and defense
chevron_right Technical Summary
Austrian pine trees mount a sophisticated, whole-tree defense against a deadly fungal pathogen by coordinating multiple plant hormones in a precise sequence. Early abscisic acid signaling triggers the alarm, while sustained jasmonic acid and its mobile form carry the defensive message throughout the tree.
Abstract Preview
In plants, the induction of systemic defenses is essential for sustaining structural and physiological homeostasis during repeated attacks by various pests and pathogens. Plant hormones regulate nu...
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Pinus nigra, the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula and Lower Austria to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as well as Crimea and in the high mountains...