ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2021
Soil chemistry determines whether defensive plant secondary metabolites promote or suppress herbivore growth.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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18 citing papers in PubMed, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita uses secondary-metabolite-mediated soil microbiome shifts to locate host plants.Nature plants · 2026Article
- BpWRKY6 regulates insect resistance by affecting jasmonic acid and terpenoid synthesis in Betula platyphylla.Plant biotechnology journal · 2025Article
- Herbivory-induced green leaf volatiles increase plant performance through jasmonate-dependent plant-soil feedbacks.Nature plants · 2025Article
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- Two leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases initiate herbivory defense responses in tea plants.Horticulture research · 2025Article
- Antioxidants by nature: an ancient feature at the heart of flavonoids' multifunctionality.The New phytologist · 2025Article
- Synthetic Microbial Community Isolated from Intercropping System Enhances P Uptake in Rice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- From trade-off to synergy: how nutrient status modulates plant resistance to herbivorous insects?Advanced biotechnology · 2024Review
- Exploring Metabolomics to Innovate Management Approaches for Fall Armyworm (Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- UDP-glucosyltransferase 71C4 controls the flux of phenylpropanoid metabolism to shape cotton seed development.Plant communications · 2024Article
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- Root-exuded specialized metabolites reduce arsenic toxicity in maize.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Does soil history decline in influencing the structure of bacterial communities ofISME communications · 2024Article
- Soil Chemistry and Soil History Significantly Structure Oomycete Communities inApplied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
- Plant growth and stress-regulating metabolite response to biochar utilization boost crop traits and soil health.Frontiers in plant science · 2023Article
- Beyond Photoprotection: The Multifarious Roles of Flavonoids in Plant Terrestrialization.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Harnessing belowground processes for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems.Plant and soil · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Plant secondary (or specialized) metabolites mediate important interactions in both the rhizosphere and the phyllosphere. If and how such compartmentalized functions interact to determine plant-environment interactions is not well understood. Here, we investigated how the dual role of maize benzoxazinoids as leaf defenses and root siderophores shapes the interaction between maize and a major global insect pest, the fall armyworm. We find that benzoxazinoids suppress fall armyworm growth when plants are grown in soils with very low available iron but enhance growth in soils with higher available iron. Manipulation experiments confirm that benzoxazinoids suppress herbivore growth under iron-deficient conditions and in the presence of chelated iron but enhance herbivore growth in the presence of free iron in the growth medium. This reversal of the protective effect of benzoxazinoids is not associated with major changes in plant primary metabolism. Plant defense activation is modulated by the interplay between soil iron and benzoxazinoids but does not explain fall armyworm performance. Instead, increased iron supply to the fall armyworm by benzoxazinoids in the presence of free iron enhances larval performance. This work identifies soil chemistry as a decisive factor for the impact of plant secondary metabolites on herbivore growth. It also demonstrates how the multifunctionality of plant secondary metabolites drives interactions between abiotic and biotic factors, with potential consequences for plant resistance in variable environments.
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