Multimodal Dissection of UV-B--Induced Plant Defense

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture urgently requires innovative, pesticide-free strategies to mitigate herbivory and safeguard food security. Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation, with tunable intensity and cost-effectiveness, has emerged as a promising non-chemical method to enhance plant resistance, yet its underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, using tea plant ( Camellia sinensis ) and its major pest Ectropis obliqua as a model, we developed a multimodal framework that integrates AI-enhanced electronic nose technology for real-time volatile profiling with in situ hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy to characterize defense responses under precisely controlled UV-B treatments. This approach identified herbivore-induced volatiles—hexanal, (Z)-3-hexenol, octanal, and (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate—optimally induced at 1.2 kJ·m -2 UV-B and linked to insect deterrence. SRS imaging further revealed elevated jasmonic acid derivatives and L-phenylalanine, coupled with reduced protein levels and altered stomatal dynamics, all correlating with enhanced resistance. Transcriptomic and molecular analyses confirmed transcriptional regulation of these pathways. By bridging volatile detection, metabolic imaging, and molecular validation, this study pioneers a multimodal strategy that provides mechanistic insights into UV-B–mediated plant defense and highlights the potential of multimodal methodologies as powerful tools for developing sustainable, pesticide-free pest management solutions in precision agriculture.

Plant phenotyping relevance

AI強化電子鼻とSRS顕微鏡を統合した植物防御応答の取得・解析フレームワークが研究の中心であり、揮発性物質、代謝、気孔動態などの植物状態を測定しているため。

Code and data availability

The supplied block contains only the preprint title page and abstract. It references a hosted manuscript file (the article document itself, not a data or code asset) and provides no public phenotype datasets, images, sensor data, analysis code, models, or supplementary assets with explicit availability statements or作者-

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.