Plants and Pesticides

The voracious appetites of pests put plants under constant stress. They have to fight just to stay alive. And fight they do. Far from being passive victims, plants have evolved potent defenses: chemical compounds that serve as toxins, signal an escalating attack, and solicit help from unlikely allies. ¹ In some cases plants lure attackers into a carefully set trap. An example: plants in the Brassicaceae family (including broccoli, cabbage and mustard) store seemingly harmless compounds known as glucosinates in cellular compartments next to stores of enzymes called myrosinase. The two reserves are separated only by a thin cell wall. When an unsuspecting herbivore chews through this wall, the myrosinase enzymes mix with the glucosinates, catalyzing chemical reactions that engulf the attacker in a toxic cloud. It's these reactions that give Brassicaceae species their characteristic bitter flavor and antioxidant properties.