Impact of the female and hermaphrodite forms of Opuntia robusta on the plant defence hypothesis.

ABSTRACT: The optimal defence hypothesis predicts that increased plant defence capabilities, lower levels of damage, and lower investment in vegetative biomass will occur more frequently in sexual forms with higher resource-demanding tissue production and/or younger plant parts. We aimed to examine the effects of sexual form, cladode, and flower age on growth rate, herbivore damage, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA), chlorogenic acid, and quercetin (QUE) concentrations in Opuntia robusta plants in central Mexico. Our findings demonstrated that hermaphrodite flowers showed faster growth and lesser damage than female flowers. The effect of cladode sexual forms on 4-HBA and QUE occurrence was consistent with the predictions of the optimal defence hypothesis. However, chlorogenic acid occurrences were n

SUBMITTER: Janczur MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8187663 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature