Methyl jasmonate (MeJA), a common plant secondary compound, when applied to the surface of grapevine leaves, caused the formation of lesions that mimic a typical hypersensitive response. Sustained exposure of grapevines to 50 µM MeJA provoked tissue damage, stimulated salicylic acid production, and expression of defense-related genes. Besides these local responses, after several days systemic expression of defense-related genes was induced as well, Thus, grapevine cells that perceived MeJA generated a cascade of events acting at local, short and long distances and causing the coordinated expression of specific defense responses with a timing and magnitude similar to the hypersensitive response against pathogens, MeJA represents a powerful tool to investigate the signals and their respective pathways involved in mechanism of induced disease resistance of grapevine.
