A reductase of green leaf volatiles that affects indirect plant defences (Plant Physiol.)

Green leaf volatiles (GLVs) are a set of six-carbon volatile molecules that are produced in response to wounding and herbivore activity and contribute to plant defences including indirect defences. As yet, the pathways involved in production and removal of GLVs are largely not known. Tanaka et al. identified an enzyme involved in this process, CINNAMALDEHYDE AND HEXENAL REDUCTASE (CHR). Because the Col-0 ecotype of Arabidopsis thaliana has a mutation in a gene (HPL) affecting a biosynthetic step upstream of the six-carbon GLVs, the authors made use of the No-0 ecotype carrying a functional HPL gene to characterize the effects of loss-of-function of CHR. As compared to CHR HPL plants, chr HPL plants have deficiencies in the reduction of six-carbon aldehydes to six-carbon alcohols and a decrease in their indirect defences by lowering their attractiveness to parasitic wasps. (Summary by Mary Williams) Plant Physiol. 10.1104/pp.18.006325