title: Do Plants Eavesdrop on Floral Scent Signals?
abstract: Plants emit a diverse array of volatile organic compounds that can function as cues to other plants. Plants can use volatiles emitted by neighbors to gain information about their environment, and respond by adjusting their phenotype. Less is known about whether the many different volatile signals that plants emit are all equally likely to function as cues to other plants. We review evidence for the function of floral volatile signals and conclude that plants are as likely to perceive and respond to floral volatiles as to other, better-studied volatiles. We propose that eavesdropping on floral volatile cues is particularly likely to be adaptive because plants can respond to these cues by adjusting traits that directly affect pollination and mating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada. Electronic address: carusoc@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.affiliation: Plant Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Parachnowitsch
mesh_terms: D055669:Ecological and Environmental Phenomena; D035264:Flowers / Q000378:metabolism*; D009812:Odorants; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: floral volatile; phenotypic plasticity; plant–plant communication; pollination; volatile organic compound