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Leaf wounding or simulated herbivory in young N. attenuata plants reduces carbon delivery to roots and root tips

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Abstract

Main conclusion

In Nicotiana attenuata seedlings, simulated herbivo ry by the specialist Manduca sexta decreases root growth and partitioning of recent photoassimilates to roots in contrast to increased partitioning reported for older plants.

Root elongation rate in Nicotiana attenuata has been shown to decrease after leaf herbivory, despite reports of an increased proportion of recently mobilized photoassimilate being delivered towards the root system in many species after similar treatments. To study this apparent contradiction, we measured the distribution of recent photoassimilate within root tissues after wounding or simulated herbivory of N. attenuata leaves. We found no contradiction: herbivory reduced carbon delivery to root tips. However, the speed of phloem transport in both shoot and root, and the delivery of recently assimilated carbon to the entire root system, declined after wounding or simulated herbivory, in contrast with the often-reported increase in root partitioning. We conclude that the herbivory response in N. attenuata seedlings is to favor the shoot and not bunker carbon in the root system.

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Abbreviations

CON:

Control treatment

V tip :

Velocity of the root tip

WOS:

Simulated herbivory treatment

WW:

Wounding treatment

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Acknowledgments

We thank Johannes Ermert, Klaus Adrian and Manfred Holzgreve (INM-5: Nuclear Chemistry) for provision of 11CO2, Marco Dautzenberg (IBG-2: Plant Sciences) for technical support, Stefan Meldau (formerly MPI for Chemical Ecology in Jena) for discussions and Ian T. Baldwin (MPI for Chemical Ecology) for donation of the N. attenuata seeds.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Lilian Schmidt

    Present address: Department of Vegetable Crops, Geisenheim University, Von-Lade-Str. 1, 65366, Geisenheim, Germany

  2. Grégoire M. Hummel

    Present address: Phenospex B.V., Jan Campertstraat 11, 6416 SG, Heerlen, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany

    Lilian Schmidt, Grégoire M. Hummel, Björn Thiele, Ulrich Schurr & Michael R. Thorpe

  2. Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Michael R. Thorpe

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Correspondence to Lilian Schmidt.

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Schmidt, L., Hummel, G.M., Thiele, B. et al. Leaf wounding or simulated herbivory in young N. attenuata plants reduces carbon delivery to roots and root tips. Planta 241, 917–928 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2230-z

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