Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and Herbivores
Light quality and chemicals in a plant’s environment can provide crucial information about the presence and nature of antagonists, such as competitors and herbivores. Here, we evaluate the roles of three sources of information—shifts in the red:far red (R:FR) ratio of light reflected off of potentia...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/20/2768 |
| _version_ | 1797470198120316928 |
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| author | Alexander Chautá André Kessler |
| author_facet | Alexander Chautá André Kessler |
| author_sort | Alexander Chautá |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Light quality and chemicals in a plant’s environment can provide crucial information about the presence and nature of antagonists, such as competitors and herbivores. Here, we evaluate the roles of three sources of information—shifts in the red:far red (R:FR) ratio of light reflected off of potentially competing neighbors, induced metabolic changes to damage by insect herbivores, and induced changes to volatile organic compounds emitted from herbivore-damaged neighboring plants—to affect metabolic responses in the tall goldenrod, <i>Solidago altissima</i>. We address the hypothesis that plants integrate the information available about competitors and herbivory to optimize metabolic responses to interacting stressors by exposing plants to the different types of environmental information in isolation and combination. We found strong interactions between the exposure to decreased R:FR light ratios and damage on the induction of secondary metabolites (volatile and non-volatile) in plants. Similarly, the perception of VOCs emitted from neighboring plants was altered by the simultaneous exposure to spectral cues from neighbors. These results suggest that plants integrate spectral and chemical environmental cues to change the production and perception of volatile and non-volatile compounds and highlight the role of plant context-dependent metabolic responses in mediating population and community dynamics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:33:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11be3c7f5f494b56b89ba466844d574c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:33:17Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-11be3c7f5f494b56b89ba466844d574c2023-11-24T02:05:05ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472022-10-011120276810.3390/plants11202768Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and HerbivoresAlexander Chautá0André Kessler1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, E445 Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, USADepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, E445 Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, USALight quality and chemicals in a plant’s environment can provide crucial information about the presence and nature of antagonists, such as competitors and herbivores. Here, we evaluate the roles of three sources of information—shifts in the red:far red (R:FR) ratio of light reflected off of potentially competing neighbors, induced metabolic changes to damage by insect herbivores, and induced changes to volatile organic compounds emitted from herbivore-damaged neighboring plants—to affect metabolic responses in the tall goldenrod, <i>Solidago altissima</i>. We address the hypothesis that plants integrate the information available about competitors and herbivory to optimize metabolic responses to interacting stressors by exposing plants to the different types of environmental information in isolation and combination. We found strong interactions between the exposure to decreased R:FR light ratios and damage on the induction of secondary metabolites (volatile and non-volatile) in plants. Similarly, the perception of VOCs emitted from neighboring plants was altered by the simultaneous exposure to spectral cues from neighbors. These results suggest that plants integrate spectral and chemical environmental cues to change the production and perception of volatile and non-volatile compounds and highlight the role of plant context-dependent metabolic responses in mediating population and community dynamics.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/20/2768competitionherbivoryinduced defensesplant communicationred:far redvolatiles |
| spellingShingle | Alexander Chautá André Kessler Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and Herbivores Plants competition herbivory induced defenses plant communication red:far red volatiles |
| title | Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and Herbivores |
| title_full | Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and Herbivores |
| title_fullStr | Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and Herbivores |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and Herbivores |
| title_short | Metabolic Integration of Spectral and Chemical Cues Mediating Plant Responses to Competitors and Herbivores |
| title_sort | metabolic integration of spectral and chemical cues mediating plant responses to competitors and herbivores |
| topic | competition herbivory induced defenses plant communication red:far red volatiles |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/20/2768 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexanderchauta metabolicintegrationofspectralandchemicalcuesmediatingplantresponsestocompetitorsandherbivores AT andrekessler metabolicintegrationofspectralandchemicalcuesmediatingplantresponsestocompetitorsandherbivores |