Plant Responses to Wounding

Jose J Sánchez‐Serrano, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología CSIC, Madrid, Spain

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0001321

Plants react to mechanical damage by activating a set of wound-responsive genes, whose function is devoted to plant healing and prevention of subsequent pest and pathogen attacks. A wound-signalling cascade initiated at the site of injury is responsible for gene activation in local and systemic tissues.

Keywords: herbivory; jasmonic acid; wound-induced genes; wound signalling

Figure 1. Wound signalling networks in (a) potato, and (b) Arabidopsis thaliana. The molecular components involved in gene activation upon wounding, and their connections in both local and systemic leaves, are depicted. ABA, abscisic acid;  C2H4, ethylene; JA, jasmonic acid; OGAs, oligosaccharides. Arrows represent a positive interaction, a blunt-ended line indicates repression. Those genes that are activated are encircled: PIN, proteinase inhibitors; local and systemic genes, those whose expression is restricted to damaged and nondamaged tissues, respectively (see text for further explanation).
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 References
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 Further Reading
    book Agrawal AA and Tuzun Sand Bent E (eds) (1999) Induced Plant Defences against Pathogens and Herbivores. St Paul, MN: American Phytopathological Society Press.
    Glazebrook J (1999) Genes controlling expression of defense responses in Arabidopsis. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 2: 280–286.
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Related Sub-Topics:

Intracellular and Extracellular Signalling | Cell Signalling | Plant Disease | Plant Epidermis and Cuticle | Plant Genetics and Molecular Biology
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Article Title: Plant Responses to Wounding
 
How to Cite close
Sánchez‐Serrano, Jose J(Apr 2001) Plant Responses to Wounding. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0001321]