Plants call for help with a chemical employed by people as a drug

Botanists haveL-DOPA known for years that some plants send distress calls when under attack from herbivorous insects such as aphids, and that these calls lead neighbours to release volatile chemicals which draw other insects into the area, to attack the attackers. This response brings mutual benefits. It helps the plant already under attack. And it also stops the infestation spreading.That at least some of these calls for help travel underground is also clear, but the details were murky. Now, a study published in by Emilio Guerrieri of the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, in Turin, has shown that these subterranean cries for help are made using a molecule, , which achieved fame in the 1990s as the star of a film called “Awakenings”.