Think that a field of plants is a bucolic place free of strife? Try again. It is a battlefield of chemical warfare between defending plants and attacking pathogens. And the plants are waging a good fight, according to a University of Missouri biochemist. Previous studies have shown that plants can sense attacks by pathogens and activate their defenses. However, it has not been known what happens between the pathogen attacks and the defense activation, until now. A new MU study revealed a very complex process that explains how plants counterattack pathogens. This discovery could potentially lead to crops with enhanced disease resistance.