Local scientists have found a method to help plants fight against worms, instead of resorting to the use of pesticides.
Jasmonate is an important defense-signaling hormone in plants.
Scientists found young plants have stronger worm-defending responses by activating the jasmonate hormone when it is attacked, while the hormone reduces with age.
But chemicals can accumulate, scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences said yesterday.
"We can stimulate young plant to develop more such hormones by giving certain elicitation to improve its own defending ability to drop pesticide use," said Chen Xiaoya, chief scientist of the research. (Shanghai Daily)
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