Linked Life Data

18645183

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18645183

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
29
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-7-23
pubmed:abstractText
As the basal resource in most food webs, plants have evolved myriad strategies to battle consumption by herbivores. Over the past 50 years, plant defense theories have been formulated to explain the remarkable variation in abundance, distribution, and diversity of secondary chemistry and other defensive traits. For example, classic theories of enemy-driven evolutionary dynamics have hypothesized that defensive traits escalate through the diversification process. Despite the fact that macroevolutionary patterns are an explicit part of defense theories, phylogenetic analyses have not been previously attempted to disentangle specific predictions concerning (i) investment in resistance traits, (ii) recovery after damage, and (iii) plant growth rate. We constructed a molecular phylogeny of 38 species of milkweed and tested four major predictions of defense theory using maximum-likelihood methods. We did not find support for the growth-rate hypothesis. Our key finding was a pattern of phyletic decline in the three most potent resistance traits (cardenolides, latex, and trichomes) and an escalation of regrowth ability. Our neontological approach complements more common paleontological approaches to discover directional trends in the evolution of life and points to the importance of natural enemies in the macroevolution of species. The finding of macroevolutionary escalating regowth ability and declining resistance provides a window into the ongoing coevolutionary dynamics between plants and herbivores and suggests a revision of classic plant defense theory. Where plants are primarily consumed by specialist herbivores, regrowth (or tolerance) may be favored over resistance traits during the diversification process.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-10553904, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-12116635, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-12912839, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-15122510, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-15266375, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-15286371, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-16922309, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-16922310, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-17097760, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-17739203, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-17824430, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-3616620, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18645183-7932792
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
1091-6490
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
22
pubmed:volume
105
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
10057-60
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Phylogenetic escalation and decline of plant defense strategies.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-2701, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.