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Molleman F, Mandal M, Sokół-Łętowska A, Walczak U, Volf M, Mallick S, Moos M, Vodrážka P, Prinzing A, Mezzomo P. Simulated Herbivory Affects the Volatile Emissions of Oak Saplings, while Neighbourhood Affects Flavan-3-ols Content of Their Leaves. J Chem Ecol 2024:10.1007/s10886-024-01471-4. [PMID: 38270732 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-024-01471-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
To what extent particular plant defences against herbivorous insects are constitutive or inducible will depend on the costs and benefits in their neighbourhood. Some defensive chemicals in leaves are thought to be costly and hard to produce rapidly, while others, including volatile organic compounds that attract natural enemies, might be cheaper and can be released rapidly. When surrounding tree species are more closely related, trees can face an increased abundance of both specialist herbivores and their parasitoids, potentially increasing the benefits of constitutive and inducible defences. To test if oaks (Quercus robur) respond more to herbivore attacks with volatile emission than with changes in leaf phenolic chemistry and carbon to nitrogen ratio (C: N), and whether oaks respond to the neighbouring tree species, we performed an experiment in a forest in Poland. Oak saplings were placed in neighbourhoods dominated by oak, beech, or pine trees, and half of them were treated with the phytohormone methyl jasmonate (elicitor of anti-herbivore responses). Oaks responded to the treatment by emitting a different volatile blend within 24 h, while leaf phenolic chemistry and C: N remained largely unaffected after 16 days and multiple treatments. Leaf phenolics were subtly affected by the neighbouring trees with elevated flavan-3-ols concentrations in pine-dominated plots. Our results suggest that these oaks rely on phenols as a constitutive defence and when attacked emit volatiles to attract natural enemies. Further studies might determine if the small effect of the neighbourhood on leaf phenolics is a response to different levels of shading, or if oaks use volatile cues to assess the composition of their neighbourhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Freerk Molleman
- Department of Systematic Zoology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego Str. 6, Poznań, PL-61-614, Poland.
| | - Manidip Mandal
- Department of Systematic Zoology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego Str. 6, Poznań, PL-61-614, Poland
| | - Anna Sokół-Łętowska
- Department of Fruit, Vegetable and Plant Nutraceutical Technology, Faculty of the Biotechnology and Food Science, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Chełmońskiego Str. 37, Wrocław, 51-630, Poland
| | - Urszula Walczak
- Department of Systematic Zoology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego Str. 6, Poznań, PL-61-614, Poland
| | - Martin Volf
- Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, 37005, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, Ceske Budejovice, 37005, Czech Republic
| | - Soumen Mallick
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, Field Station Fabrikschleichach, University of Würzburg, Glashüttenstraße 5, 96181, Rauhenebrach, Germany
| | - Martin Moos
- Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, 37005, Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Vodrážka
- Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, 37005, Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Andreas Prinzing
- Research Unit « Ecosystemes, Biodiversité, Evolution », Université de Rennes 1, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Campus Beaulieu, bâtiment 14, Rennes, AF-35042, France
| | - Priscila Mezzomo
- Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, 37005, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, Ceske Budejovice, 37005, Czech Republic
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Liu X, LeRoy CJ, Wang G, Guo Y, Song S, Wang Z, Wu J, Luan F, Song Q, Fang X, Yang Q, Huang D, Liu J. Leaf defenses of subtropical deciduous and evergreen trees to varying intensities of herbivory. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16350. [PMID: 37953769 PMCID: PMC10637251 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Generally, deciduous and evergreen trees coexist in subtropical forests, and both types of leaves are attacked by numerous insect herbivores. However, trees respond and defend themselves from herbivores in different ways, and these responses may vary between evergreen and deciduous species. We examined both the percentage of leaf area removed by herbivores as well as the percentage of leaves attacked by herbivores to evaluate leaf herbivore damage across 14 subtropical deciduous and evergreen tree species, and quantified plant defenses to varying intensities of herbivory. We found that there was no significant difference in mean percentage of leaf area removed between deciduous and evergreen species, yet a higher mean percentage of deciduous leaves were damaged compared to evergreen leaves (73.7% versus 60.2%). Although percent leaf area removed was mainly influenced by hemicellulose concentrations, there was some evidence that the ratio of non-structural carbohydrates:lignin and the concentration of tannins contribute to herbivory. We also highlight that leaf defenses to varying intensities of herbivory varied greatly among subtropical plant species and there was a stronger response for deciduous trees to leaf herbivore (e.g., increased nitrogen or lignin) attack than that of evergreen trees. This work elucidates how leaves respond to varying intensities of herbivory, and explores some of the underlying relationships between leaf traits and herbivore attack in subtropical forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyu Liu
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | | | - Guobing Wang
- Department of Scientific Research, Administration of Jiangxi Guanshan National Nature Reserve, Yichun, China
| | - Yuan Guo
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Shuwang Song
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Zhipei Wang
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Jingfang Wu
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | | | - Qingni Song
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Xiong Fang
- College of Land Resources and Environment, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Qingpei Yang
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Dongmei Huang
- School of Humanities and Public Administration, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Jun Liu
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory for Bamboo Germplasm Resources and Utilization, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
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Vanhakylä S, Salminen JP. Seasonal Variation in Plant Polyphenols and Related Bioactivities across Three Years in Ten Tree Species as Visualized by Mass Spectrometric Fingerprint Mapping. Molecules 2023; 28:6093. [PMID: 37630346 PMCID: PMC10458088 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28166093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The currently changing climates and environments place plants under many types of stresses that affect both their survival and levels of chemical defenses. The gradual induction of defenses in stressed plant populations could be monitored on a yearly basis unless a seasonal and yearly variation in natural defense levels obscures such monitoring schemes. Here, we studied the stability of the species-specific polyphenol composition and content of 10 tree species over three growing seasons using five replicate trees per species. We specifically measured hydrolyzable tannins (galloyl and hexahydroxydiphenoyl derivatives), proanthocyanidins (procyanidins and prodelphinidins), flavonols (kaempferol, quercetin and kaempferol derivatives) and quinic acid derivatives with the group-specific UHPLC-DAD-MS/MS tool, together with two bioactivities, the protein precipitation capacity and oxidative activity. With the help of a fingerprint mapping tool, we found out that species differed a lot in their seasonal and between-year variation in polyphenols and that the variation was also partially specific to compound groups. Especially ellagitannins tended to have declining seasonal patterns while the opposite was true for proanthocyanidins. Some of the species showed minimal variation in all measured variables, while others showed even induced levels of certain polyphenol groups during the 3-year study. For every species, we found either species-specific baseline levels in qualitative and quantitative polyphenol chemistry or the compound groups with the most plasticity in their production. The used tools could thus form a good combination for future studies attempting to monitor the overall changes in polyphenol chemistry due to various biotic or abiotic stress factors in plant populations or in more controlled environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Juha-Pekka Salminen
- Natural Chemistry Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland;
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