Airborne cues accelerate flowering and promote photosynthesis in Brassica rapa

Abstract

Plants in nature are subjected to a number of biotic and abiotic stresses that can influence their fitness (Barton & Koricheva, 2010).One of the most important threats is phytophagy by insects, which are the most abundant herbivores (Agrawal, 1999;Maron, 1998). This selective pressure has resulted in plants developing sophisticated mechanisms to deter insects from consuming them and to provide defences in the event of attack (Howe & Jander, 2008). Upon consumption of tissues by an insect, plants produce an array of toxic and deterrent phytochemicals that prevent insects from feeding (Mithöfer & Boland, 2012). Well-known examples include the production of nicotine in tobacco Nicotiana tabacum (Baldwin, 1999) and glucosinolates in Brassica plants (Hopkins et al., 2009).