Plant defense elicitors: analogues of jasmonoyl-isoleucine conjugate.

Our understanding of plant defensive mechanisms against herbivore and pathogen attack has significantly increased over the past decade. The complex cascade of defensive events is initiated and controlled by a network of interacting plant hormones. Especially, the conjugate of jasmonate and isoleucine is a major regulator which controls gene expression and production of secondary metabolites after (a)biotic challenges. This review offers a survey of both natural and synthetic mimetics of the natural hormone which can be used for a selective manipulation and the study of the plant's secondary metabolism.