Host plant defense signaling in response to a coevolved herbivore combats introduced herbivore attack

Ecology and Evolution

Anastasia M. Woodard¹  Gary N. Ervin² 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, P.O. Box 599, State University, Arkansas, 72467;Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, P.O. Box GY, 295 Lee Blvd., Mississippi State, Mississippi, 39762

关键词: Coevolution;    defense priming;    herbivore‐induced plant volatiles;    HIPVs;    insect herbivore;    invasive species;    naïve host;    plant defense;    plant–plant signaling;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.224

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Defense-free space resulting from coevolutionarily naïve host plants recently has been implicated as a factor facilitating invasion success of some insect species. Host plants, however, may not be entirely defenseless against novel herbivore threats. Volatile chemical-mediated defense signaling, which allows plants to mount specific, rapid, and intense responses, may play a role in systems experiencing novel threats. Here we investigate defense responses of host plants to a native and exotic herbivore and show that (1) host plants defend more effectively against the coevolved herbivore, (2) plants can be induced to defend against a newly-associated herbivore when in proximity to plants actively defending against the coevolved species, and (3) these defenses affect larval performance. These findings highlight the importance of coevolved herbivore-specific defenses and suggest that naïveté or defense limitations can be overcome via defense signaling. Determining how these findings apply across various host–herbivore systems is critical to understand mechanisms of successful herbivore invasion.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC   
© 2011 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.