Herbivory and relative growth rates of Pieris rapae are correlated with host constitutive salicylic acid and flowering time.

ABSTRACT: Treatment of plants with exogenous salicylic acid (SA) improves resistance to many bacterial pathogens, but can suppress resistance to insect herbivores. While plants vary naturally in constitutive SA, whether such differences are predictive of resistance to insect herbivores has not been studied previously. We examined the possible role of this endogenous SA in structuring the interactions between the cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, and ten hosts in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Because P. rapae has multiple generations that utilize different hosts across the year, we included five spring-flowering mustards and five summer-flowering mustards that co-occur in ruderal habitats in upstate New York. Under common garden conditions, the spring flowering mustards (Capsella bursa-past

SUBMITTER: Lariviere A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4427633 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature