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Benefits of jasmonate-dependent defenses against vertebrate herbivores in nature.
Journal article

Benefits of jasmonate-dependent defenses against vertebrate herbivores in nature.

  • Machado RA Root-Herbivore Interactions Group, Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
  • McClure M School of the Environment, Washington State University, Washington, United States.
  • Hervé MR Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
  • Baldwin IT Department of Molecular Ecology, Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
  • Erb M Root-Herbivore Interactions Group, Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
  • 2016-06-30
Published in:
  • eLife. - 2016
Nicotiana attenuata
ecology
fitness
plant defenses
secondary metabolites
sylvilagus nuttallii
Animals
Cyclopentanes
Feeding Behavior
Flowers
Herbivory
Lagomorpha
Oxylipins
Plant Growth Regulators
Tobacco
English Endogenous jasmonates are important regulators of plant defenses. If and how they enable plants to maintain their reproductive output when facing community-level herbivory under natural conditions, however, remains unknown. We demonstrate that jasmonate-deficient Nicotiana attenuata plants suffer more damage by arthropod and vertebrate herbivores than jasmonate-producing plants in nature. However, only damage by vertebrate herbivores translates into a significant reduction in flower production. Vertebrate stem peeling has the strongest negative impact on plant flower production. Stems are defended by jasmonate-dependent nicotine, and the native cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus nuttallii avoids jasmonate-producing N. attenuata shoots because of their high levels of nicotine. Thus, endogenous jasmonates enable plants to resist different types of herbivores in nature, and jasmonate-dependent defenses are important for plants to maintain their reproductive potential when facing vertebrate herbivory. Ecological and evolutionary models on plant defense signaling should aim at integrating arthropod and vertebrate herbivory at the community level.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/247069
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