Elicitation of jasmonate-mediated defense responses by mechanical wounding and insect herbivory

Many plant immune responses to biotic stress are mediated by the wound hormone jasmonate (JA). Functional and mechanistic studies of the JA signaling pathway often involve plant manipulations that elicit JA production and subsequent changes in gene expression in local and systemic tissues. Here, we describe a simple mechanical wounding procedure to effectively trigger JA responses in the Arabidopsis thaliana rosette. For comparison, we also present a plant-insect bioassay to elicit defense responses with the chewing insect Trichoplusia ni. This latter procedure can be used to determine the effect of JA-regulated defenses on growth and development of insect herbivores.