Changes in cytokinins are sufficient to alter developmental patterns of defense metabolites in Nicotiana attenuata.

ABSTRACT: Plant defense metabolites are well known to be regulated developmentally. The optimal defense (OD) theory posits that a tssue's fitness values and probability of attack should determine defense metabolite allocations. Young leaves are expected to provide a larger fitness value to the plant, and therefore their defense allocations should be higher when compared with older leaves. The mechanisms that coordinate development with defense remain unknown and frequently confound tests of the OD theory predictions. Here we demonstrate that cytokinins (CKs) modulate ontogeny-dependent defenses in Nicotiana attenuata. We found that leaf CK levels highly correlate with inducible defense expressions with high levels in young and low levels in older leaves. We genetically manipulated the developmental

SUBMITTER: Brutting C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5245775 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature