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Changes in cytokinins are sufficient to alter developmental patterns of defense metabolites in Nicotiana attenuata
Author(s) -
Brütting Christoph,
Schäfer Martin,
Vanková Radomíra,
Gase Klaus,
Baldwin Ian T.,
Meldau Stefan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.13316
Subject(s) - biology , ontogeny , plant defense against herbivory , chemical defense , senescence , defence mechanisms , metabolite , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , genetics , biochemistry , herbivore
Summary Plant defense metabolites are well known to be regulated developmentally. The optimal defense ( OD ) theory posits that a tssue's fitness values and probability of attack should determine defense metabolite allocations. Young leaves are expected to provide a larger fitness value to the plant, and therefore their defense allocations should be higher when compared with older leaves. The mechanisms that coordinate development with defense remain unknown and frequently confound tests of the OD theory predictions. Here we demonstrate that cytokinins ( CK s) modulate ontogeny‐dependent defenses in Nicotiana attenuata . We found that leaf CK levels highly correlate with inducible defense expressions with high levels in young and low levels in older leaves. We genetically manipulated the developmental patterns of two different CK classes by using senescence‐ and chemically inducible expression of CK biosynthesis genes. Genetically modifying the levels of different CK s in leaves was sufficient to alter ontogenic patterns of defense metabolites. We conclude that the developmental regulation of growth hormones that include CK s plays central roles in connecting development with defense and therefore in establishing optimal patterns of defense allocation in plants.