The flowers of the model plant Arabidopsis emit little perfume. They convert volatile terpenes into oxygenated derivatives that are stored in tissues to ward off flowering insects. IBMP researchers have shown how the association and coordinated expression of two enzymes modulate the emission of perfume, the production of terpene oxygenated derivatives, the visit of insects and the floral microbiome. This work was published on October 18, 2019 in The Plant Cell.
The hidden face of floral scents: ward off insects and modulate the microbiome