3d-Model of the guard cell potassium ion channel GORK of Arabidopsis thaliana (left). Wounding of the plant triggers the activation of the jasmonate signaling pathway in stomatal guard cells. As a consequence, this finally results in the activation of GORK mediated potassium currents through the ion channel (right). (Image: Dirk Becker / Uni Würzburg)
The plant hormone jasmonic acid also performs a function that was previously unknown. It ensures that the leaf pores close when leaves are injured. For the plant, this could be an emergency signal. Jasmonic acid is not just the aromatic odor of the plant Jasminum grandiflorum used in cosmetics and perfume industries. Plants wounded by e.g. chewing herbivores produce jasmonic acid as a defense signal, as a phytohormone to mount their defense responses - this includes for example the formation of toxic substances. They even employ volatile derivatives of jasmonic acid to warn their neighbors to fight the rising threat in time. Today, an international research team led by the plant biologist Dirk Becker of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany, report on their novel findings on jasmonic acid effects in the renowned scientific journal Developmental Cell.
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