Plants sniff out danger signals through their leaf skin, not just pores
Yu H, Cofer TM, Lindner H, Wang L, Pereira Gomes Filho AA
Plant Signaling
The succulents on your windowsill and the plants in your drought-stressed garden bed can still pick up chemical alarms from wounded neighbors at night, when their pores are sealed, so they aren't defenseless during dry spells.
Plants smell chemical warnings released by damaged neighbors, and scientists assumed they did it through tiny leaf pores that close at night or in dry weather. This study shows the leaf surface itself soaks up these scent signals, especially oily ones, so plants keep listening with their pores shut. That intake is enough to trigger defenses against hungry insects.
Key Findings
When stomata were open, about 80% of the wound-induced volatile (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate entered through stomata and about 20% through a non-stomatal route; over a full day, the non-stomatal route accounted for roughly 30% of total uptake.
Neither leftover stomatal opening nor hydathodes explained the non-stomatal uptake; it favors lipophilic volatiles and depends on cuticle thickness and epidermal/sub-epidermal structure, pointing to the leaf surface.
Leaf-surface uptake is highest when stomata are closed, is boosted by phytohormone application (suggesting active regulation), and is sufficient to activate anti-herbivore defenses and resistance.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Plants can pick up airborne chemical warnings through the leaf surface even when their stomata (leaf pores) are shut. This means they can sense neighbors' distress signals at night and during drought, and still switch on defenses against insects.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Uptake via the leaf surface allows plants to perceive volatiles with closed stomata.
Plants can detect threats by perceiving airborne chemical signals, but how these volatiles are taken up by the leaves is not well understood. Stomata are generally considered the major uptake pathw...
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