Evolution of Territoriality by Herbivores in Response to Host Plant Defenses

Plant sex and the evolution of plant defenses against herbivores.

Despite the importance of plant-herbivore interactions to the ecology and evolution of terrestrial ecosystems, the evolutionary factors contributing to variation in plant defenses against herbivores remain unresolved. We used a comparative phylogenetic approach to examine a previously untested hypothesis (Recombination-Mating System Hypothesis) that posits that reduced sexual reproduction limit...

Parasitism by Cuscuta pentagona attenuates host plant defenses against insect herbivores.

Considerable research has examined plant responses to concurrent attack by herbivores and pathogens, but the effects of attack by parasitic plants, another important class of plant-feeding organisms, on plant defenses against other enemies has not been explored. We investigated how attack by the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona impacted tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) defenses against the chewin...

Plant Defenses and Optimal Foraging by Mammalian Herbivores

Pseudomonas syringae manipulates systemic plant defenses against pathogens and herbivores.

Many pathogens are virulent because they specifically interfere with host defense responses and therefore can proliferate. Here, we report that virulent strains of the bacterial phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae induce systemic susceptibility to secondary P. syringae infection in the host plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This systemic induced susceptibility (SIS) is in direct contrast to the well s...

How herbivores coopt plant defenses: natural selection, specialization, and sequestration.

We review progress in understanding sequestration by herbivorous insects, the use of plant chemical defenses for their own defense. We incorporate sequestration into the framework of plant-insect coevolution by integrating three hierarchical issues: (1) the relationship between dietary specialization and sequestration of plant defenses, (2) the physiological mechanisms involved in sequestration...