Constraints on plant resistance and tolerance trade-offs
type: CreativeWork
description: Plant tissue loss due to herbivory is an important selective force for shaping plant phenotypes (Marquis 1992). Therefore, plants have evolved a variety of mechanisms to mitigate the negative effects of herbivory. Much of what we have learned, to date, on plant responses to their enemies (herbivores and pathogens) have focused on the evolution of chemical and structural traits that reduce or prevent tissue damage by herbivores (resistance) (Simms and Fritz 1990). However, herbivores may also select for traits that allow plants to compensate for tissue loss with little or no detriment in fitness (tolerance) (Painter 1951). Studies have even shown that herbivory leads to, under certain environmental circumstances (Hawkes and Sullivan 2001), an increase in plant reproductive success (overcompensation, i.e., increased fruit and seed production), rather than a decrease. Plant chemical defense and tolerance to damage is often studied in the context of ecological trade-offs and costs of tolerance (Strauss et al. 2002). It was initially theorized that resistance and tolerance represented two alternative and redundant defense strategies given limited nutrients and energy available in the struggle against hervbivory (van der Meijden et al. 1988). According to this hypothesis, both defensive strategies offer the same fitness benefits (Mauricio et al. 1997). Regardless of the suggestions and assumptions that resistance and tolerance may play redundant roles in plant defense, a recent meta-analysis showed most natural populations appear to be comprised of a mixture of both strategies due to selection for the maintenance of both traits (Leimu and Koricheva 2006). What has been missing from previous studies was the genetic and molecular underpinnings of plant tolerance and its relationship to the well-characterized molecular pathway involved in chemical defense, i.e., the shikimate pathway. Previous studies in the lab have shown that the process of endoreduplication is the primary…
abstract: Plant tissue loss due to herbivory is an important selective force for shaping plant phenotypes (Marquis 1992). Therefore, plants have evolved a variety of mechanisms to mitigate the negative effects of herbivory. Much of what we have learned, to date, on plant responses to their enemies (herbivores and pathogens) have focused on the evolution of chemical and structural traits that reduce or prevent tissue damage by herbivores (resistance) (Simms and Fritz 1990). However, herbivores may also select for traits that allow plants to compensate for tissue loss with little or no detriment in fitness (tolerance) (Painter 1951). Studies have even shown that herbivory leads to, under certain environmental circumstances (Hawkes and Sullivan 2001), an increase in plant reproductive success (overcompensation, i.e., increased fruit and seed production), rather than a decrease. Plant chemical defense and tolerance to damage is often studied in the context of ecological trade-offs and costs of tolerance (Strauss et al. 2002). It was initially theorized that resistance and tolerance represented two alternative and redundant defense strategies given limited nutrients and energy available in the struggle against hervbivory (van der Meijden et al. 1988). According to this hypothesis, both defensive strategies offer the same fitness benefits (Mauricio et al. 1997). Regardless of the suggestions and assumptions that resistance and tolerance may play redundant roles in plant defense, a recent meta-analysis showed most natural populations appear to be comprised of a mixture of both strategies due to selection for the maintenance of both traits (Leimu and Koricheva 2006). What has been missing from previous studies was the genetic and molecular underpinnings of plant tolerance and its relationship to the well-characterized molecular pathway involved in chemical defense, i.e., the shikimate pathway. Previous studies in the lab have shown that the process of endoreduplication is the primary…
author: Mesa, Joshua M.
language: en
keywords: Endoreduplication, Tolerance, Resistance, Trade-offs, fitness compensation, overcompensation
date published: 2019-02-06T19:36:35Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:42Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/102479