Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant

Plant induced responses to environmental stressors are increasingly studied in a behavioral ecology context. This is particularly true for plant induced responses to herbivory that mediate direct and indirect defenses, and tolerance. These seemingly adaptive alterations of plant defense phenotypes i...

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Main Authors: André Kessler, Michael B. Mueller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Plant Signaling & Behavior
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2024.2345985
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author André Kessler
Michael B. Mueller
author_facet André Kessler
Michael B. Mueller
author_sort André Kessler
collection DOAJ
description Plant induced responses to environmental stressors are increasingly studied in a behavioral ecology context. This is particularly true for plant induced responses to herbivory that mediate direct and indirect defenses, and tolerance. These seemingly adaptive alterations of plant defense phenotypes in the context of other environmental conditions have led to the discussion of such responses as intelligent behavior. Here we consider the concept of plant intelligence and some of its predictions for chemical information transfer in plant interaction with other organisms. Within this framework, the flow, perception, integration, and storage of environmental information are considered tunable dials that allow plants to respond adaptively to attacking herbivores while integrating past experiences and environmental cues that are predictive of future conditions. The predictive value of environmental information and the costs of acting on false information are important drivers of the evolution of plant responses to herbivory. We identify integrative priming of defense responses as a mechanism that allows plants to mitigate potential costs associated with acting on false information. The priming mechanisms provide short- and long-term memory that facilitates the integration of environmental cues without imposing significant costs. Finally, we discuss the ecological and evolutionary prediction of the plant intelligence hypothesis.
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spelling doaj-art-867481c6fc5c4b7aa4624c3ad638e2d82025-01-02T11:44:26ZengTaylor & Francis GroupPlant Signaling & Behavior1559-23161559-23242024-12-0119110.1080/15592324.2024.23459852345985Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plantAndré Kessler0Michael B. Mueller1Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityPlant induced responses to environmental stressors are increasingly studied in a behavioral ecology context. This is particularly true for plant induced responses to herbivory that mediate direct and indirect defenses, and tolerance. These seemingly adaptive alterations of plant defense phenotypes in the context of other environmental conditions have led to the discussion of such responses as intelligent behavior. Here we consider the concept of plant intelligence and some of its predictions for chemical information transfer in plant interaction with other organisms. Within this framework, the flow, perception, integration, and storage of environmental information are considered tunable dials that allow plants to respond adaptively to attacking herbivores while integrating past experiences and environmental cues that are predictive of future conditions. The predictive value of environmental information and the costs of acting on false information are important drivers of the evolution of plant responses to herbivory. We identify integrative priming of defense responses as a mechanism that allows plants to mitigate potential costs associated with acting on false information. The priming mechanisms provide short- and long-term memory that facilitates the integration of environmental cues without imposing significant costs. Finally, we discuss the ecological and evolutionary prediction of the plant intelligence hypothesis.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2024.2345985plant–insect interactionsplant defensesecondary metabolite productionsignaling pathway crosstalkchemical defenseimmunological memory
spellingShingle André Kessler
Michael B. Mueller
Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant
Plant Signaling & Behavior
plant–insect interactions
plant defense
secondary metabolite production
signaling pathway crosstalk
chemical defense
immunological memory
title Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant
title_full Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant
title_fullStr Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant
title_full_unstemmed Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant
title_short Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant
title_sort induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant
topic plant–insect interactions
plant defense
secondary metabolite production
signaling pathway crosstalk
chemical defense
immunological memory
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2024.2345985
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