Fecha de publicación: -- Fuente: PubMed "medicinal and aromatic plants" Plant Sci. 2026 Nov 6;375:113581. doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2026.113581. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCoexisting diversity among plant communities indicates that still unexplored mechanisms of cooperation exist among them. The intra- and interplant cooperation under biotic challenges efficiently manages the stress responses in the receiver groups. Environmental stresses severely affect plants, and the survival strategies of one plant can be influenced by the neighbouring plant communities. While plant-plant communication via volatile organic compounds is well-documented in biotic interactions, its role in abiotic stress signalling remains less explored. This study investigates whether salinity-stressed rice plants emit volatile cues that influence the physiological and molecular responses of neighbouring unstressed plants. Using an airtight plant-to-plant communication setup, we exposed a salt-sensitive rice (Oryza sativa L.) variety (Uma) to the salt-tolerant variety (Pokkali) under 200 mM NaCl. HS-SPME and GC-MS analysis identified dimethyl sulfide and limonene as the primary volatiles with significantly increased emission under salt stress. The exposed neighbouring plants exhibited marked biochemical and molecular shifts. Computational docking indicated that limonene interacts with the hydrophobic pockets of putative odorant-binding proteins of rice, suggesting its role as a signalling modulator. Significant change in metabolome composition was observed in Uma in the vicinity of salt-stressed Pokkali compared to its control. When plants were exposed to limonene, they showed the activation of stress pathways conferring osmotic and oxidative balance. Our findings demonstrate that salt-induced airborne signals emitted by rice plants are sensed by neighbours, leading to biochemical, molecular, and metabolic changes in the latter.PMID:42994730 | DOI:10.1016/j.plantsci.2026.113581