Communication between sagebrush and wild tobacco in the field |
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| Institution: | 1. Inverness College UHI, Longman Campus, 3 Longman Road, Longman South, Inverness, IV1 1SA, United Kingdom;2. Epidemiology Research Unit, SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College), Drummondhill, Stratherrick Road, Inverness, IV2 4JZ, United Kingdom;3. Agroscope, Institute for Sustainability Sciences (ISS), Tänikon 1, CH-8356, Ettenhausen, Thurgau, Switzerland;1. Tianjin Key Laboratory for Modern Drug Delivery and High-Efficiency, School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, PR China;2. Pharmaceutical Engineering Department, School of Biological Science and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, PR China;3. Tianjin Key Laboratory of TCM Chemistry and Analysis, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, PR China;1. WorldFish, P.O. Box 438, Honiara, Solomon Islands;2. Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia;3. School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia;4. Vanuatu Fisheries Department, PMB 9045, Nambatu Maritime Wing, Port Vila, Vanuatu;1. Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, University of Würzburg, Julius-von-Sachs-Platz 2, 97082 Würzburg, Germany;2. Centro de Bioinformática y Simulación Molecular (CBSM), Universidad de Talca, 2 Norte 685, Talca, Chile |
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| Abstract: | Communication between plants has not been widely accepted by most ecologists. However, recent field experiments indicated that wild tobacco plants became more resistant to herbivores when grown in close proximity to clipped sagebrush neighbors. Tobacco plants grown within 15 cm of sagebrush that had been either manually clipped with scissors or damaged by herbivores experienced less naturally occurring folivory than tobacco plants with unclipped neighbors. These results were consistent over five field seasons and involved treatments that were randomly assigned and well replicated. Associated with lower levels of herbivory were increased activities of polyphenol oxidase in tobacco foliage near clipped sagebrush neighbors. Experiments that blocked either air or soil contact between sagebrush and tobacco indicated that the communication was airborne rather than soilborne. Alternative explanations involving altered microenvironmental conditions or avoidance of clipped sagebrush by herbivores were not supported.Much remains to be learned about the natural history of this phenomenon. Apparently the plants must be in close proximity for communication to occur. Preliminary results suggest that communication between sagebrush and other plants may also occur. The mechanisms of communication as well as its ecological and evolutionary significance remain unknown. |
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