Cover Caption: Mechanosensitive Ion Channel and Wounding

Abstract

Plants release jasmonates (JAs), a class of phytohormones, upon wounding that subsequently activate a variety of protective responses. How plants sense wounding is not known. In this issue, Zou et al. (pp.600–609) show that a gain‐of‐function mutation in a mechanosensitive ion channel if Arabidopsis triggers elevated JAresponses including accumulation of anthocyanin (as seen in the photo), microscopic cell death, and hyper‐accumulation of JAs in response to wounding. These results suggest that perturbation of mechanosensitive ion channels is linked to perception of mechanic damage.