MPI-CE Institutsseminar

Abstract:
The interactions between herbivore resistance and pollinator attraction as well as the associated plant metabolic processes have received increased attention in recent years. Studies have shown ecological costs of induced defences to herbivory mediated by a pollination limitation in damaged plants. Additionally, plant mating strategy has been shown to have dramatic consequences for the expression of defensive traits, and herbivory increases the fitness costs due to inbreeding depression. Together these results suggest that plant mating systems and associated floral characters, and defense strategy, including constitutive and inducible production of defensive secondary metabolites, are not evolving independently. We characterized the pattern of induced responses to herbivory and floral traits involved in pollinator attraction in wild Solanum (Solanaceae) species and compare the observed pattern in the context of evolution of herbivore resistance and mating system. Self-compatibility has evolved several times independently in the genus Solanum and I will discuss results of our comparative approach as well as manipulative field experiments to address the biochemical mechanisms and ecological function underlying the observed pattern.