Scientists decode chemical defense in plants against plant sap-sucking leafhoppers

Given the sheer number of potential enemies, plants are resistant to most pests, even if they can cause damage to other plants. In a new study published in the journal Science, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology describe a newly discovered mechanism that protects a wild tobacco species from plant sap-sucking leafhoppers. By combining different genetic screening methods with the study of chemical changes in tobacco leaves, they identified a previously unknown defense substance important for the tobacco's resistance to leafhoppers and characterized the genes for its biosynthesis.

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