Priming for JA-dependent defenses using hexanoic acid is an effective mechanism to protect Arabidopsis against B. cinerea

Abstract Soil drench treatments with hexanoic acid can effectively protect Arabidopsis plants against Botrytis cinerea through a mechanism based on a stronger and faster accumulation of JA-dependent defenses. Plants impaired in ethylene, salicylic acid, abscisic acid or glutathion pathways showed intact protection by hexanoic acid upon B. cinerea infection. Accordingly, no significant changes in the SA marker gene PR-1 in either the SA or ABA hormone balance were observed in the infected and treated plants. In contrast, the JA signaling pathway showed dramatic changes after hexanoic acid treatment, mainly when the pathogen was present. The impaired JA mutants, jin1-2 and jar1 , were unable …