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Updated: May 22, 2026

Herbivore-induced Blueberry Volatiles and Intra-plant Signaling
Published on: December 18, 2011
Intermittent exposure to traces of green leaf volatiles triggers a plant response
Kaori Shiojiri1, Rika Ozawa, Kenji Matsui
1Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University 2-509-3, Hirano, Otsu, 520-2113, Japan.
Abstract:
Plants are known to mount a defensive response when exposed to volatile chemicals from other plants, but the critical concentration required for this response is not known. We showed that intermittent exposure over a period of 3 weeks to trace amounts (less than 140 pptV) of green leaf volatiles emitted by a freshly damaged Arabidopsis plant induced physiological (defensive) responses in undamaged neighbouring plants. These results demonstrated that plants can respond to long-term repeated exposures to subcritical amounts of chemical signals.
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