ArticleBMC plant biology2016
Is protection against florivory consistent with the optimal defense hypothesis?
Article in BMC plant biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular background of the diverse metabolic profiles in leaves and inflorescences of naked catmint (Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Bringing Fundamental Insights of Induced Resistance to Agricultural Management of Herbivore Pests.Journal of chemical ecology · 2023Review
- Comparative metabolomics analysis reveals alkaloid repertoires in young and mature Mitragyna speciosa (Korth.) Havil. Leaves.PloS one · 2023Article
- Diverse organ-specific localisation of a chemical defence, cyanogenic glycosides, in flowers of eleven species of Proteaceae.PloS one · 2023Article
- Priming Seeds with Indole and (Z)-3-Hexenyl Acetate Enhances Resistance Against Herbivores and Stimulates Growth.Journal of chemical ecology · 2022Article
- Unique and highly specific cyanogenic glycoside localization in stigmatic cells and pollen in the genus Lomatia (Proteaceae).Annals of botany · 2020Article
- Role of cyanogenic glycosides in the seeds of wild lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus: defense, plant nutrition or both?Planta · 2019Article
- Trade-offs between growth, reproduction and defense in response to resource availability manipulations.PloS one · 2018Article
- Flower power: Floral and resource manipulations reveal how and why reproductive trade-offs occur for lowbush blueberry (Ecology and evolution · 2017Article
- Cotton Defense Induction Patterns Under Spatially, Temporally and Quantitatively Varying Herbivory Levels.Frontiers in plant science · 2017Article
- Testing the optimal defense hypothesis in nature: Variation for glucosinolate profiles within plants.PloS one · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPlant defense traits require resources and energy that plants may otherwise use for growth and reproduction. In order to most efficiently protect plant tissues from herbivory, one widely accepted assumption of the optimal defense hypothesis states that plants protect tissues most relevant to fitness. Reproductive organs directly determining plant fitness, including flowers and immature fruit, as well as young, productive leaf tissue thus should be particularly well-defended. To test this hypothesis, we quantified the cyanogenic potential (HCNp)-a direct, chemical defense-systemically expressed in vegetative and reproductive organs in lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus), and we tested susceptibility of these organs in bioassays with a generalist insect herbivore, the Large Yellow Underwing (Noctuidae: Noctua pronuba). To determine the actual impact of either florivory (herbivory on flowers) or folivory on seed production as a measure of maternal fitness, we removed varying percentages of total flowers or young leaf tissue and quantified developing fruit, seeds, and seed viability.
resultsWe found extremely low HCNp in flowers (8.66 ± 2.19 μmol CN(-) g(-1) FW in young, white flowers, 6.23 ± 1.25 μmol CN(-) g(-1) FW in mature, yellow flowers) and in pods (ranging from 32.05 ± 7.08 to 0.09 ± 0.08 μmol CN(-) g(-1) FW in young to mature pods, respectively) whereas young leaves showed high levels of defense (67.35 ± 3.15 μmol CN(-) g(-1) FW). Correspondingly, herbivores consumed more flowers than any other tissue, which, when taken alone, appears to contradict the optimal defense hypothesis. However, experimentally removing flowers did not significantly impact fitness, while leaf tissue removal significantly reduced production of viable seeds.
conclusionsEven though flowers were the least defended and most consumed, our results support the optimal defense hypothesis due to i) the lack of flower removal effects on fitness and ii) the high defense investment in young leaves, which have high consequences for fitness. These data highlight the importance of considering plant defense interactions from multiple angles; interpreting where empirical data fit within any plant defense hypothesis requires understanding the fitness consequences associated with the observed defense pattern.
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