Question 19M.2.HL.TZ2.1c

Organisms often release chemicals when attacked as part of their defence system. Scientists studied lima bean plants (Phaseolus lunatus) infested with either an armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, or a herbivorous mite, Tetranychus urticae. Both organisms feed on lima bean leaves, causing the leaves to release chemicals.

[Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phaseolus_lunatus_Blanco2.369.png]

The study was conducted to see which defence chemicals were produced by lima bean leaves when infested by armyworms or herbivorous mites. The scientists identified a mixture of compounds (C) released by the plant when attacked. Two of the chemicals in this mixture were identified (C1 and C2).

The scientists hypothesized that the defence chemicals in C act as signals to produce other chemicals (X, Y and Z) that are also involved in the defence of the plant.

The graphs show the amounts of chemicals X, Y and Z produced when the plants were infested by either one of the two herbivores or treated with the different chemicals C1 or C2.

[Source: R Ozawa and G Arimura, Involvement of Jasmonate- and Salicylate-Related Signaling Pathways for the
Production of Specific Herbivore-Induced Volatiles in Plants, Plant and Cell Physiology, 2000, 41, 4, 391–398,
by permission of Oxford University Press]

RNA was collected from leaves of the plants after each treatment (armyworm, herbivorous mite and the chemicals C1 and C2). DNA copies of the extracted RNA were made by a process called reverse transcription. Targeted genes in the DNA were then amplified.