TY - JOUR
T1 - Defense tradeoffs in fleshy fruits
T2 - Effects of resource variation on growth, reproduction, and fruit secondary chemistry in Solanum carolinense
AU - Cipollini, Martin L.
AU - Paulk, Eric
AU - Mink, Kim
AU - Vaughn, Karen
AU - Fischer, Tiffanny
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments—Ian Cipollini, Megan Cipollini, Kathy Patrick, Anna Sanders Scott, and Carrie Manous assisted in the laboratory and in the field. This work was supported by Berry College Department of Biology funds, and Berry College School of Mathematical and Natural Science Development of Undergraduate Research and Professional Development grants.
PY - 2004/1
Y1 - 2004/1
N2 - A set of clones of 10 maternal plants was grown for three successive years (1998-2000) under two nitrogen treatments and two water treatments. Path analysis revealed strong direct and indirect effects of nitrogen treatment on growth and reproduction, but fruit morphological and chemical variables were not strongly affected. Fruit pulp chemistry varied only slightly across treatments despite the large differences in growth and reproduction associated with resource variation. Leaf and ripe fruit chemical contents were not significantly correlated across treatments, and maternal plants, and leaf chemical variables did not help explain fruit chemical variation when included as covariates in ANCOVA analyses, suggesting no physiological constraints of leaf chemistry on ripe fruit chemistry. Results suggest that, while maternal plants may vary somewhat in fruit chemistry, and fruit chemistry may vary somewhat depending upon environmental conditions, levels of primary and secondary metabolites within fruits are not best explained by supply-side hypotheses. Ripe fruit chemistry remained relatively constant in the face of drastically changing resource levels, suggesting an adaptive function and supporting the Defense Tradeoff hypothesis. Fruit quality, both in terms of nutritional make-up and putative defensive properties, was maintained despite strong effects on plant growth and reproduction. Because glycoalkaloids are general defense compounds, we conclude that ripe fruit chemistry most likely reflects a balance between selection for attraction of seed dispersers and defense against pests and pathogens.
AB - A set of clones of 10 maternal plants was grown for three successive years (1998-2000) under two nitrogen treatments and two water treatments. Path analysis revealed strong direct and indirect effects of nitrogen treatment on growth and reproduction, but fruit morphological and chemical variables were not strongly affected. Fruit pulp chemistry varied only slightly across treatments despite the large differences in growth and reproduction associated with resource variation. Leaf and ripe fruit chemical contents were not significantly correlated across treatments, and maternal plants, and leaf chemical variables did not help explain fruit chemical variation when included as covariates in ANCOVA analyses, suggesting no physiological constraints of leaf chemistry on ripe fruit chemistry. Results suggest that, while maternal plants may vary somewhat in fruit chemistry, and fruit chemistry may vary somewhat depending upon environmental conditions, levels of primary and secondary metabolites within fruits are not best explained by supply-side hypotheses. Ripe fruit chemistry remained relatively constant in the face of drastically changing resource levels, suggesting an adaptive function and supporting the Defense Tradeoff hypothesis. Fruit quality, both in terms of nutritional make-up and putative defensive properties, was maintained despite strong effects on plant growth and reproduction. Because glycoalkaloids are general defense compounds, we conclude that ripe fruit chemistry most likely reflects a balance between selection for attraction of seed dispersers and defense against pests and pathogens.
KW - Defense tradeoffs
KW - Frugivory
KW - Growth and reproduction
KW - Nitrogen supplementation
KW - Optimal defense, physiological constraints
KW - Plant secondary metabolites
KW - Ripe fruit chemistry and morphology
KW - Solanum carolinense
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U2 - 10.1023/B:JOEC.0000013179.45661.68
DO - 10.1023/B:JOEC.0000013179.45661.68
M3 - Article
C2 - 15074654
AN - SCOPUS:1342322852
SN - 0098-0331
VL - 30
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - Journal of Chemical Ecology
JF - Journal of Chemical Ecology
IS - 1
ER -