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A plant immune receptor mediates tritrophic interactions by linking caterpillar detection to predator recruitment

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Plants deploy direct and indirect defenses in response to insect herbivory. The specific antiherbivore responses involve cell surface immune receptors that recognize herbivore-associated molecular patterns (HAMPs), yet the ecological relevance of this molecular interplay in natural settings remains unexplored. Here, we demonstrate with laboratory and field experimentation in Mexico that the inceptin receptor (INR) in the leaves of common bean orchestrates a tritrophic interaction upon recognition of inceptin, a HAMP in caterpillar oral secretions. Near-isogenic lines with a naturally occurring null mutation in INR revealed that inceptin recognition does not only amplify the wound response but activates an herbivore-specific immune pathway to trigger the emission of a distinctive volatile blend that recruits predatory wasps to effectively remove caterpillars from the plants. These findings provide a definitive molecular-to-ecological link, revealing how a single immune receptor mediates ecologically relevant plant-insect-predator interactions in nature.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aec3229
Authors: Natalia Guayazán Palacios, Patrick Grof-Tisza, Brian Behnken, Carla Marques Arce, Di Wu, Antonio F. Chaparro, Benjamin D. Sheppard, Eric A. Schmelz, Ted C. J. Turlings, Betty Benrey, Adam D. Steinbrenner
Institutions: University of Washington, University of Neuchâtel, University of California, Berkeley, University of California San Diego, Pennsylvania State University, Henan University
Language: English
Subfield: Insect Science
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of Washington, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, European Research Council
Awards: The influence of complex stapes vibration patterns on hearing in guinea pigs, G2566268290, Unraveling the ecology behind the success of traditional Milpa intercropping in Mesoamerica, Immunodiversity of plant receptor kinase networks for synthetic circuit design, G5512199683, Collaborative Research: Understanding Molecular Mechanisms of Immune Response to a Herbivore-Associated Peptide Elicitor, G6896836701, G8105150848, G8690818240, G9000116827
OpenAlex ID: W4412833447
FWCI: 17.15
Cites: 50
Cited by: 5
Related to: 10