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Attenuation of the Jasmonate Burst, Plant Defensive Traits, and Resistance to Specialist Monarch Caterpillars on Shaded Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

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Abstract

Plant responses to herbivory and light competition are often in opposing directions, posing a potential conflict for plants experiencing both stresses. For sun-adapted species, growing in shade typically makes plants more constitutively susceptible to herbivores via reduced structural and chemical resistance traits. Nonetheless, the impact of light environment on induced resistance has been less well-studied, especially in field experiments that link physiological mechanisms to ecological outcomes. Accordingly, we studied induced resistance of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca, a sun-adapted plant), and linked hormonal responses, resistance traits, and performance of specialist monarch caterpillars (Danaus plexippus) in varying light environments. In natural populations, plants growing under forest-edge shade showed reduced levels of resistance traits (lower leaf toughness, cardenolides, and trichomes) and enhanced light-capture traits (higher specific leaf area, larger leaves, and lower carbon-to-nitrogen ratio) compared to paired plants in full sun. In a field experiment repeated over two years, only milkweeds growing in full sun exhibited induced resistance to monarchs, whereas plants growing in shade were constitutively more susceptible and did not induce resistance. In a more controlled field experiment, plant hormones were higher in the sun (jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, abscisic acid, indole acidic acid) and were induced by herbivory (jasmonic acid and abscisic acid). In particular, the jasmonate burst following herbivory was halved in plants raised in shaded habitats, and this correspondingly reduced latex induction (but not cardenolide induction). Thus, we provide a mechanistic basis for the attenuation of induced plant resistance in low resource environments. Additionally, there appears to be specificity in these interactions, with light-mediated impacts on jasmonate-induction being stronger for latex exudation than cardenolides.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Gaylord Desurmont, Daisy Johnson, and Julia Kerr for help with field and lab work, Sergio Rasmann and Rayko Halitschke for critical guidance with chemical analyses, and Jared Ali, Alexis Erwin, Monica Kersch-Becker, Jennifer Thaler, and anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and discussion. All chemical analyses were conducted in the Cornell Chemical Ecology Group’s Core Facility and field work was conducted at Cornell Plantation's Durland Bird Preserve as well as other Cornell Natural Areas. Our lab (http://www.herbivory.com) and this research was supported by NSF DEB-1118783, NSF REU supplements that supported E.E.K. and T.E.R., and Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station federal formula funds (Hatch project NYC-102400).

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, E425 Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853-2701, USA

    Anurag A. Agrawal, Emily E. Kearney, Amy P. Hastings & Trey E. Ramsey

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  1. Anurag A. Agrawal
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  2. Emily E. Kearney
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Correspondence to Anurag A. Agrawal.

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Agrawal, A.A., Kearney, E.E., Hastings, A.P. et al. Attenuation of the Jasmonate Burst, Plant Defensive Traits, and Resistance to Specialist Monarch Caterpillars on Shaded Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). J Chem Ecol 38, 893–901 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-012-0145-3

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