6
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Plant defence as a complex and changing phenotype throughout ontogeny

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background and Aims Ontogenetic changes in anti-herbivore defences are common and result from variation in resource availability and herbivore damage throughout plant development. However, little is known about the simultaneous changes of multiple defences across the entire development of plants, and how such changes affect plant damage in the field. The aim of this study was to assess if changes in the major types of plant resistance and tolerance can explain natural herbivore damage throughout plant ontogeny.

          Methods An assessment was made of how six defensive traits, including physical, chemical and biotic resistance, simultaneously change across the major transitions of plant development, from seedlings to reproductive stages of Turnera velutina growing in the greenhouse. In addition, an experiment was performed to assess how plant tolerance to artificial damage to leaves changed throughout ontogeny. Finally, leaf damage by herbivores was evaluated in a natural population.

          Key Results The observed ontogenetic trajectories of all defences were significantly different, sometimes showing opposite directions of change. Whereas trichome density, leaf toughness, extrafloral nectary abundance and nectar production increased, hydrogen cyanide and compensatory responses decreased throughout plant development, from seedlings to reproductive plants. Only water content was higher at the intermediate juvenile ontogenetic stages. Surveys in a natural population over 3 years showed that herbivores consumed more tissue from juvenile plants than from younger seedlings or older reproductive plants. This is consistent with the fact that juvenile plants were the least defended stage.

          Conclusions The results suggest that defensive trajectories are a mixed result of predictions by the Optimal Defence Theory and the Growth–Differentiation Balance Hypothesis. The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating multiple defences and plant ontogeny into further studies for a more comprehensive understanding of plant defence evolution.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Ann Bot
          Ann. Bot
          annbot
          annbot
          Annals of Botany
          Oxford University Press
          0305-7364
          1095-8290
          October 2015
          28 July 2015
          : 116
          : 5
          : 797-806
          Affiliations
          Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 04510, Mexico DF, Mexico
          Author notes
          * For correspondence. E-mail kboege@ 123456unam.mx

          Present address: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, The King’s Buildings, West Mains Road. Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.

          Article
          PMC4590325 PMC4590325 4590325 mcv113
          10.1093/aob/mcv113
          4590325
          26220657
          3fca9e54-4723-451d-a0f6-e36afc8132d1
          © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
          History
          : 17 March 2015
          : 21 May 2015
          : 15 June 2015
          Page count
          Pages: 10
          Categories
          Original Articles
          1002

          Passifloraceae,Compensatory growth,extrafloral nectaries,herbivory,ontogenetic trajectories,plant defence,plant–animal interaction,tolerance, Turnera velutina

          Comments

          Comment on this article