Functional evidence supports adaptive plant chemical defense along a geographical cline

AA Agrawal, L Espinosa del Alba… - Proceedings of the …, 2022 - National Acad Sciences
Environmental clines in organismal defensive traits are usually attributed to stronger
selection by enemies at lower latitudes or near the host's range center. Nonetheless, little …

Plant chemical diversity enhances defense against herbivory

X López-Goldar, X Zhang, AP Hastings… - Proceedings of the …, 2024 - pnas.org
Multiple hypotheses have been put forth to understand why defense chemistry in individual
plants is so diverse. A major challenge has been teasing apart the importance of …

Quantification of plant cardenolides by HPLC, measurement of Na+/K+-ATPase inhibition activity, and characterization of target enzymes

G Petschenka, T Züst, AP Hastings, AA Agrawal… - Methods in …, 2023 - Elsevier
The biosynthesis of cardiac glycosides, broadly classified as cardenolides and
bufadienolides, has evolved repeatedly among flowering plants. Individual species can …

Tissue-specific plant toxins and adaptation in a specialist root herbivore

AA Agrawal, AP Hastings - Proceedings of the National …, 2023 - National Acad Sciences
In coevolution between plants and insects, reciprocal selection often leads to phenotype
matching between chemical defense and herbivore offense. Nonetheless, it is not well …

New Structures, Spectrometric Quantification, and Inhibitory Properties of Cardenolides from Asclepias curassavica Seeds

P Rubiano-Buitrago, S Pradhan, C Paetz, HM Rowland - Molecules, 2022 - mdpi.com
Cardiac glycosides are a large class of secondary metabolites found in plants. In the genus
Asclepias, cardenolides in milkweed plants have an established role in plant–herbivore and …

Expansion processes of two emblematic Luehdorfia butterflies across the Japanese archipelago

S Suzuki, T Suzuki, Y Shibuya, M Goto… - Journal of …, 2023 - Wiley Online Library
Aim Adaptation to local environments has been considered a driving force of ecological
speciation. Previous phylogenetic studies at higher taxonomic levels have strongly …

Tissue and toxin-specific divergent evolution in plant defense Evolución divergente específica de tejido y toxina en defensa de plantas

X López-Goldar, AA Agrawal - Evolution, 2023 - academic.oup.com
A major predicted constraint on the evolution of anti-herbivore defense in plants is the
nonindependent expression of traits mediating resistance. Since herbivore attack can be …

Compound-specific behavioral and enzymatic resistance to toxic milkweed cardenolides in a generalist bumblebee pollinator

PL Jones, KR Martin, SV Prachand… - Journal of Chemical …, 2023 - Springer
Plant secondary metabolites that defend leaves from herbivores also occur in floral nectar.
While specialist herbivores often have adaptations providing resistance to these compounds …

Drought and Herbivory Differentially Modulate the Leaf Exudation of Organic Acids in Chickpea

N Iqbal, MM Rahman, GR Cawthray, Y Zhou… - Journal of Soil Science …, 2024 - Springer
Drought and herbivory challenge chickpea growth and yield. Consequently, we designed
two glasshouse experiments to investigate the effects of drought and herbivory on chickpea …

Heat waves induce milkweed resistance to a specialist herbivore via increased toxicity and reduced nutrient content

X López‐Goldar, A Mollema… - Plant, Cell & …, 2024 - Wiley Online Library
Over the last decade, a large effort has been made to understand how extreme climate
events disrupt species interactions. Yet, it is unclear how these events affect plants and …