%0 Journal Article
%T A simple and efficient micrografting method for stably transformed Nicotiana attenuata plants to examine shoot-root signaling
%A Variluska Fragoso
%A Hannah Goddard
%A Ian T Baldwin
%A Sang-Gyu Kim
%J Plant Methods
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1746-4811-7-34
%X Many studies have shown that plants use long-distance or systemic signals to coordinate and adjust their growth. These signals convey messages throughout the whole plant, from sensor to effector tissues or organs, and they seem to operate with great specificity which can depend not only on the message itself but also on the spatial and temporal scales over which they act [1]. One of the interesting examples of long-distance signaling in plants is activated by herbivore attack and results in the production of a complex bouquet of plant defenses. Plants are capable of priming defenses systemically in tissues that are distal to the sites of attack, suggesting that an herbivory alert signal is transmitted from attacked to unattacked leaves and roots [2].Grafting has provided important insights into the study of these systemic wound signals in plants. Grafting a JA biosynthesis mutant with a JA response mutant clearly showed that the production of jasmonic acid (JA) in damaged leaves and the perception of JA by distal leaves are necessary for inducing systemic responses [3]. Moreover, the de novo biosynthesis of JA in systemic leaves was further determined not to be required for the systemic transmission of the wound signals [4]. This research focused on the long-distance communication within shoots, and there remains much to be learned about the role of roots in the production and propagation of these important signals throughout the plant that mediate ecological interactions [5].A wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata has been studied in plant-herbivore interaction in its natural habitat, the Great Basin Desert of Utah. Several local and systemic defense responses are induced in N. attenuata during herbivore attack. Defense traits, which include trypsin proteinase inhibitors (TPI) and specific volatiles, such as trans-¦Á-bergamotene produced by terpene synthases (TPS), are increased in N. attenuata when this plant is attacked by herbivores or elicited by herbivore-specific
%K Grafting
%K Nicotiana attenuata
%K root and shoot signaling
%K systemic signals
%U http://www.plantmethods.com/content/7/1/34