Plants can defend themselves against herbivores by attracting natural enemies of the herbivores. The cues for attraction are often complex mixtures of herbivore-induced plant volatiles, making it difficult to demonstrate the role of specific compounds. After herbivory by lepidopteran larvae, maize releases a mixture of volatiles that is highly attractive to females of various parasitic wasp species. We identified the terpene synthase TPS10 that forms (
E
)-β-farnesene, (
E
)-α-bergamotene, and other herbivory-induced sesquiterpene hydrocarbons from the substrate farnesyl diphosphate. The corresponding gene is expressed in response to herbivore attack and is regulated at the transcript level. Overexpression of
tps10
in
Arabidopsis thaliana
resulted in plants emitting high quantities of TPS10 sesquiterpene products identical to those released by maize. Using these transgenic
Arabidopsis
plants as odor sources in olfactometer assays showed that females of the parasitoid
Cotesia marginiventris
learn to exploit the TPS10 sesquiterpenes to locate their lepidopteran hosts after prior exposure to these volatiles in association with hosts. This dissection of the herbivore-induced volatile blend demonstrates that a single gene such as
tps10
can be sufficient to mediate the indirect defense of maize against herbivore attack.
植物可以通过吸引草食动物的天敌来自我防御。吸引的信号通常是草食动物诱导的植物挥发物的复杂混合物,这使得证明特定化合物的作用变得困难。玉米在被鳞翅目幼虫食害后,会释放一种混合物,对各种寄生蜂的雌性非常具有吸引力。我们鉴定了萜烯合酶TPS10,该酶可以从底物茉莉酸二磷酸酯中形成(E)-β-茉莉烯、(E)-α-柠檬烯和其他草食动物诱导的倍半萜烃烃化合物。相应的基因会在草食动物攻击时表达,并在转录水平上受到调控。在拟南芥中过表达tps10导致植物释放与玉米相同的高量TPS10倍半萜烯产物。在嗅觉器实验中,使用这些转基因拟南芥植物作为气味源表明,寄生蜂Cotesia marginiventris的雌性学会利用TPS10倍半萜烯来定位其鳞翅目寄主,在先前接触这些挥发物与寄主相关的情况下。这种草食动物诱导挥发物混合物的解剖表明,像tps10这样的单一基因足以介导玉米对草食动物攻击的间接防御。