Long-Distance Signal Transmission in Trees - Communication in Plants: Neuronal Aspects of Plant Life - page 344

that tree species which suffer greater insect damage invest more in autumn
colour than less troubled species. Maples, for example, which exhibit one of
themostimpressiveautumndisplays,aresomeofthemostheavilyaphid
infested species (Blackman and Eastop 1994).
Hagen et al. (2003) explored experimentally Hamilton and Brown's au-
tumn signalling hypothesis in Betula .Aspredictedbythetheory,early
autumn colour change (i.e. more colourful trees in autumn) results in less
insect damage the following spring. In addition, from an index of tree
conditions (fluctuating asymmetry), they found a positive relationship be-
tween tree condition and colour signal intensity. Recently, Archetti and
Leather (2005) published the first direct observation of a key assumption
of the theory, that parasites avoid bright colours. By monitoring the col-
onization of the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi on individual tress of Prunus
padus in autumn they were able to observe a strong preference of aphids
for trees with green leaves and to demonstrate that aphids colonizing trees
with green leaves develop better in spring than aphids colonizing trees with
bright autumn colours, which is consistent with the main assumption of
the theory.
23.8
Conclusions and Future Prospects
In the past year several exciting reports have suggested new models for the
production and transmission of long-distance signals in physiological and
developmental controls of trees. Nevertheless, we still have a long way to
go to fully understand the complex roles of the different mechanisms. For
example, the findings described in this review mark only the beginning
of an interesting challenge to elucidate the complex regulatory network
of chemical, hydraulic and electrical signalling and responses. Continuing
advances in genomics, especially in the availability of mutants and genome
sequences, along with developments in chip microarray technology, should
cause rapid progress in this field. In addition, speaking about trees, we can-
not forget to mention that grafting has been an essential technique in the
discovery of long-distance signal pathways (e.g. root-to-shoot communi-
cation). We think that a refined grafting technique, also today, could be
the key for allowing identification of alterations in gene expression which
would give insights into long-distance signal transduction and gene func-
tions.