Growth-defense trade-offs in plants
Zuhua He1, Shanice Webster2, Sheng Yang He3
1CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
Current Biology : CB
|June 21, 2022
Summary
Plants under attack by pests may intentionally slow growth, a phenomenon known as the growth-defense trade-off. This fundamental plant economics principle impacts crop breeding for yield and pest resistance.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Ecology
- Agricultural Science
Background:
- Plants attacked by pests often appear smaller than healthy plants.
- While loss of photosynthetic tissue contributes, plants may also deliberately slow growth in response to biotic stressors.
- Rapid growth, essential for survival in certain conditions, can increase pest susceptibility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the growth-defense trade-off as a fundamental principle in plant economics.
- To discuss the underlying molecular mechanisms of this trade-off.
- To highlight the implications for crop breeding strategies.
Main Methods:
- Review of prevailing hypotheses on growth-defense trade-offs.
- Discussion of current understanding of underlying molecular mechanisms.
- Examination of ongoing efforts to optimize this trade-off in crops.
Main Results:
- Plant growth is often slowed systemically in response to pests, not solely due to tissue damage.
- Simulated attacks without tissue loss can also induce growth reduction.
- A trade-off exists where prioritizing growth can decrease defense capabilities.
Conclusions:
- The growth-defense trade-off is a crucial mechanism for plants to balance resource allocation between growth and defense.
- Understanding this trade-off is vital for developing crops with both high yield and inherent pest resistance.
- Optimizing this balance can lead to improved agricultural sustainability and food security.
Related Concept Videos
02:12Short-distance Transport of Resources
16.4K
Short-distance transport refers to transport that occurs over a distance of just 2-3 cells, crossing the plasma membrane in the process. Small uncharged molecules, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, can diffuse across the plasma membrane on their own. In contrast, ions and larger molecules require the assistance of transport proteins due to their charge or size. Transport across membranes also occurs within individual cells, playing a variety of essential roles for the plant as a whole.
16.4K
02:36Meristems and Plant Growth
46.7K
Plants grow throughout their lives; this is called indeterminate growth, and it distinguishes plants from most animals. Although certain parts of plants stop growing (e.g., leaves and flowers), others grow continuously—like roots and stems.
46.7K
00:51Energy Budgets
9.7K
Organisms must balance energy intake with the energy required for growth, maintenance and reproduction. These trade-offs result in a variety of survivorship and reproductive strategies, including semelparity and iteroparity. Semelparous species, like annual plants, have only one reproductive episode in their lifetimes and consequently have short lifespans. Iteroparous species, by contrast, have many reproductive events during their lifetimes but have relatively few offspring. These two...
9.7K
02:26Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores
25.6K
Plants present a rich source of nutrients for many organisms, making it a target for herbivores and infectious agents. Plants, though lacking a proper immune system, have developed an array of constitutive and inducible defenses to fend off these attacks.
25.6K
02:19Morphogenesis
28.8K
Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.
28.8K
02:41Responses to Drought and Flooding
10.9K
Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.
10.9K