news.bbc.co.uk -
Plants facing stressful conditions like drought produce their own aspirin-like chemical, US researchers say.
Thechemicals are produced as a gas to boost the plant's biochemicaldefences, say scientists from the National Center for AtmosphericResearch in Colorado.
They suggest that monitoring this could give farmers early warning of possible crop failures.
However, they also say the chemicals could affect pollution levels by combining with industrial gases.
researchers said they found the chemical accidentally when they weremonitoring emissions of volatile organic compounds in a Californiawalnut grove.
the chemical - methyl salicylate - could act as a "warning signal" allowing farmers to take action against pests much sooner.
The researchers believe it may also help plants to signal danger to one another.
"It appears that plants have the ability to communicate through the atmosphere."
Researchers stumbled on the discovery while monitoring a walnut grove
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