Caterpillar feeding (IMAGE)

Penn State

Caterpillar feeding

Caption

The researchers found that the glucose oxidase (GOX), secreted by tomato hornworm caterpillars onto leaves, causes stomatal closure in tomato plants within five minutes, and in both tomato and soybean plants for at least 48 hours. This prevents the plants from alerting neighboring plants to the presence of herbivores nearby.

Credit

Po-An Lin, Penn State

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