« Previous Abstract"Storage of halved strawberry fruits affects aroma, phytochemical content and gene expression, and is affected by pre-harvest factors"    Next AbstractWound-induced changes in root and shoot jasmonic acid pools correlate with induced nicotine synthesis inNicotiana sylvestris spegazzini and comes »

Oecologia

Title:		Short-term damage-induced increases in tobacco alkaloids protect plants
Author(s):		Baldwin IT;
Address:		"Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA"
Journal Title:		Oecologia
Year:		1988
Volume:		75
Issue:		3
Page Number:		367 - 370
DOI:		10.1007/BF00376939
ISSN/ISBN:		1432-1939 (Electronic) 0029-8549 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Leaf damage significantly increases the alkaloid content in undamaged leaves on damaged field-grown wild tobacco plants. Although field-grown pot-bound plants fail to exhibit the same damage-induced increase in alkaloid content, the ability to respond to leaf damage is restored 6 days after removing plants from their pots. Freshly hatched Manduca sexta larvae reared individually in the laboratory on the high-alkaloid foliage of damaged plants released from their pots gain less weight and eat less (57.2% and 45.7% of controls, respectively) than larvae fed low-alkaloid foliage from undamaged released plants. Moreover, larvae grow equally well on the foliage of damaged and undamaged pot-bound plants. The higher chlorophyll contents characteristic of damaged released plants did not negate the effects of the increased alkaloid contents on larval growth. Undamaged leaves from undamaged field-grown plants stem-fed nicotine solutions had elevated leaf nicotine and nornicotine contents. Larvae reared on these artificially induced leaves gain only 38.5% of the weight gained by larvae reared on low-alkaloid foliage. These results demonstrate that damage-induced increases in leaf alkaloids protect induced foliage from attack and are sufficient to explain the decreased growth of caterpillars on the foliage of damaged plants"
Keywords:		Induced defense Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotine Nornicotine Plant-herbivore;
Notes:		"PubMed-not-MEDLINEBaldwin, Ian T eng Germany 1988/04/01 Oecologia. 1988 Apr; 75(3):367-370. doi: 10.1007/BF00376939"