Risk of herbivory negatively correlates with the diversity of volatile emissions involved in plant communication.

ABSTRACT: Plant-to-plant volatile-mediated communication and subsequent induced resistance to insect herbivores is common. Less clear is the adaptive significance of these interactions; what selective mechanisms favour plant communication and what conditions allow individuals to benefit by both emitting and responding to cues? We explored the predictions of two non-exclusive hypotheses to explain why plants might emit cues, the kin selection hypothesis (KSH) and the mutual benefit hypothesis (MBH). We examined 15 populations of sagebrush that experience a range of naturally occurring herbivory along a 300 km latitudinal transect. As predicted by the KSH, we found several uncommon chemotypes with some chemotypes occurring only within a single population. Consistent with the MBH, chemotypic diversity

SUBMITTER: Grof-Tisza P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8548805 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature