by Séverine Altairac  Share it on Twitter, Facebook or Google+
When a living entity is challenged by another, subtle mechanisms
are triggered off, resulting in molecular crosstalk which should
help to ward off the offender. It is a question of recognizing
the ‘self’ from the ‘non-self’. If a virus is not recognized as
a transgressor, an organism will do nothing to hinder it and
infection will flourish. Likewise, if a dog gnashing its teeth
does not cause your heart to beat and your legs to run, you may
well be in deep trouble.  Plants cannot decamp but they do have
their strategies. Giving off scents is one. Directly reacting to
damage brought about by a herbivore is another. But these are
classic ‘self’ and ‘non-self’ reactions. Recently, a far more
cunning approach was unveiled. Indeed, researchers have
discovered that some plants have devised a way to get tiny
protein fragments to be part of insects’ oral secretions. When
such secretions are perceived by the same species of plants,
defense mechanisms are