Yunjing Wang

Plant viruses pose a serious global threat to agriculture, with over 2,100 species identified to date, causing more than $60 billion in annual crop losses. Nearly 80% of these viruses are transmitted by insect vectors such as aphids and whiteflies.

When attacked by herbivorous insects, plants release volatile compounds that can be perceived by neighboring plants, triggering their defense responses, a phenomenon known as airborne or volatile-induced defense. While this process holds great promise as an eco-friendly pest management strategy, its molecular underpinnings had long remained unclear.

Yunjing Wang discovered that aphid-infested plants emit large amounts of methyl salicylate (MeSA), a volatile compound that not only repels aphids and attracts natural enemies like parasitoid wasps, but also induces airborne defense in nearby plants, thereby reducing virus transmission by aphids. Her research identified SABP2 as the plant receptor for gaseous MeSA and revealed the molecular basis of MeSA-mediated airborne defense. She further revealed how aphid-borne viruses suppress this defense mechanism to prolong aphid survival and enhance their own spread. This work resolves a four-decade-old mystery in plant pathology and lays the groundwork for leveraging airborne defense in sustainable pest and disease control.

She also uncovered a novel pathway through which plants detect viral invasion and activate RNA interference (RNAi). By linking calcium signaling to the activation of RNAi pathway genes, her research revealed a new antiviral defense mechanism and identified a previously unknown viral counter-defense strategy.