Herbivore induced plant volatiles: Their role in plant defense for pest management 

Abstract

Plants respond to herbivory through different defensive mechanisms. The induction of volatile emission is one of the important and immediate response of plants to herbivory. Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are involved in plant communication with natural enemies of the insect herbivores, neighboring plants, and different parts of the damaged plant. Release of a wide variety of HIPVs in response to herbivore damage and their role in plant-plant, plant-carnivore and intraplant communications represents a new facet of the complex interactions among different trophic levels. HIPVs are released from leaves, flowers, and fruits into the atmosphere or into the soil from roots in response to herbivore attack. Moreover, HIPVs act as feeding and/or oviposition deterrents to insect pests. HIPVs also mediate the interactions between the plants and the microorganisms. This review presents an overview of HIPVs emitted by plants, their role in plant defense against herbivores and their implications for pest management.

Rice Planthoppers

“…As our understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for herbivoreinduced plant defense responses increases, the genetic engineering of plants may offer a means to enhance resistance in plants to herbivores (Degenhardt et al 2003;War et al 2011;Peñaflor and Bento 2013). By overexpressing or knocking down one or more genes, including those responsible for defense-related signaling pathways, volatile emission, and defense compound synthesis, genetically modified plants have been made in many plant species, such as Arabidopsis, maize, rice, tomato, and tobacco, and some have been proven to enhance the direct and indirect resistance of plants to herbivorous insects in the field (Degenhardt et al 2009;Schuman et al 2012;Xiao et al 2012).…”

“…Induced plant defenses may positively or negatively influence the performance of subsequent herbivores directly or indirectly by influencing the effectiveness of the natural enemies of the herbivores (Bostock 2005;Howe and Jander 2008;Baldwin 2010;Heil and Karban 2010;War et al 2011;Mithofer and Boland 2012;Clavijo McCormick et al 2012). For example, herbivore infestation induces some plants to release volatiles and/or produce extrafloral nectar, both of which can influence the behavior and performance of the predators and parasitoids of herbivores (Baldwin 2010;Erb et al 2012;Peñaflor and Bento 2013).…”

“…Thus, herbivore-induced plant defense responses play an important role in modulating the composition of the arthropod community and structure in an ecosystem (Kessler et al 2007;Zheng and Dicke 2008). Some of these plant defense traits, such as volatiles attracting natural enemies of herbivores and elicitors inducing plant defense, can enhance the efficiency of natural enemies and/or reducing the performance of herbivores; these could be exploited for new measures for managing herbivores (War et al 2011;Peñaflor and Bento 2013).…”

Multiple functions of volatiles in flowers and leaves of Elsholtzia rugulosa (Lamiaceae) from southwestern China

“…These emissions are one of the most important and immediate responses to herbivory19203334. For example, the monoterpene volatiles of Chrysanthemum morifolium repel ovipositing females of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella 35.…”

Enhancing pest management in sweet pepper by the exploitation of zoophytophagy

“…These volatiles belong to already identified volatile groups activated in plants being injured by true phytophagy, the green leaf volatiles group (GLVs), terpenoids and methyl salicylate (Kessler and Baldwin, 2001;Kessler and Baldwin, 2002;War et al, 2011). It is known that HIPVs are released by most plant species (McCormick et al, 2014).…”