SNF1-related kinases allow plants to tolerate herbivory by allocating carbon to roots

Schwachtje, J.; Schittko, U.; van Dongen, J. T.; Minchin, P. E. H.; Jahnke, S.; Baldwin, I. T.

doi:10.1073/pnas.0602316103

Journal Article

SNF1-related kinases allow plants to tolerate herbivory by allocating carbon to roots

Schwachtje, J. ; Minchin, P. E. H.FZJ* ; Jahnke, S.FZJ* ; van Dongen, J. T. ; Schittko, U. ; Baldwin, I. T.

2006
Academy Washington, DC

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103, 12935 - 12940 (2006) [10.1073/pnas.0602316103]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/2669 doi:10.1073/pnas.0602316103

Abstract: Herbivore attack elicits costly defenses that are known to decrease plant fitness by using resources that are normally slated for growth and reproduction. Additionally, plants have evolved mechanisms for tolerating attack, which are not understood on a molecular level. Using 11C-photosynthate labeling as well as sugar and enzyme measurements, we found rapid changes in sink-source relations in the annual Nicotiana attenuata after simulated herbivore attacks, which increased the allocation of sugars to roots. This herbivore-induced response is regulated by the beta-subunit of an SnRK1 (SNF1-related kinase) protein kinase, GAL83, transcripts of which are rapidly down-regulated in source leaves after herbivore attack and, when silenced, increase assimilate transport to roots. This C diversion response is activated by herbivore-specific elicitors and is independent of jasmonate signaling, which regulates most of the plant's defense responses. Herbivore attack during early stages of development increases root reserves, which, in turn, delays senescence and prolongs flowering. That attacked GAL83-silenced plants use their enhanced root reserves to prolong reproduction demonstrates that SnRK1 alters resource allocation so that plants better tolerate herbivory. This tolerance mechanism complements the likely defensive value of diverting resources to a less vulnerable location within the plant.

Keyword(s): Animals (MeSH) ; Carbon: metabolism (MeSH) ; Feeding Behavior (MeSH) ; Molecular Sequence Data (MeSH) ; Plant Roots: growth & development (MeSH) ; Plant Roots: metabolism (MeSH) ; Plants, Genetically Modified (MeSH) ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases: genetics (MeSH) ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases: metabolism (MeSH) ; Tobacco: enzymology (MeSH) ; Tobacco: genetics (MeSH) ; Tobacco: growth & development (MeSH) ; Tobacco: metabolism (MeSH) ; Carbon ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; J ; carbon-11 (auto) ; defense (auto) ; plant-herbivore interactions (auto) ; tolerance (auto)