School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2017 Dec 15;605-606:114-123. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.141. Epub 2017 Jun 27.
Plants have evolved a variety of defense traits against foliar herbivory, including the production of primary and secondary metabolites, the allocation of chemical compounds, and morphological plasticity. Using two vegetative generations of the invasive clonal species Alternanthera philoxeroides, we investigated the effects of maternal and offspring herbivory by Planococcus minor on the integrative defense strategy of plants. Herbivory severely inhibited leaf, stolon and root growth, as well as the production of primary metabolites (soluble sugars, starch, and total non-structural carbohydrates in stolons), and decreased average leaf area and specific leaf area of the second-generation A. philoxeroides. The changes in growth measures of the first-generation A. philoxeroides with herbivory were consistent with that of the second generation. By contrast, herbivory basically did not affect the concentration of non-structural carbohydrate compounds in the roots, and even increased the concentrations of N and total phenols in taproots. Furthermore, herbivory-induced maternal effects also reduced the growth of the second-generation plants. The results suggest that A. philoxeroides is capable of adapting to herbivory by P. minor, mainly via the allocation of available resources in belowground organs, and that the herbivory effect can persist across vegetative generations. These features may potentially improve the regeneration and tolerance of A. philoxeroides after a short-term herbivory.
植物进化出了多种防御特性来抵御叶片食草动物的侵害，包括产生初生代谢物和次生代谢物、分配化学化合物以及形态可塑性。本研究使用入侵克隆物种空心莲子草的两个营养世代，调查了小粉蚧的母代和子代取食对植物综合防御策略的影响。取食严重抑制了叶片、匍匐茎和根的生长，以及初生代谢物（匍匐茎中的可溶性糖、淀粉和总非结构性碳水化合物）的产生，并降低了第二代空心莲子草的平均叶面积和比叶面积。有取食的第一代空心莲子草的生长措施变化与第二代一致。相比之下，取食基本不会影响根部非结构性碳水化合物化合物的浓度，甚至增加了主根中氮和总酚的浓度。此外，取食诱导的母体效应也降低了第二代植物的生长。结果表明，空心莲子草能够通过小粉蚧的取食来适应，主要是通过在地下器官中分配可用资源，并且取食效应可以持续到营养世代。这些特征可能会提高空心莲子草在短期取食后的再生和耐受能力。
