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Phytochemical Shift from Condensed Tannins to Flavonoids in Transgenic Betula pendula Decreases Consumption and Growth but Improves Growth Efficiency of Epirrita autumnata Larvae
- Source :
- Journal of Chemical Ecology
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2019.
-
Abstract
- Despite active research, antiherbivore activity of specific plant phenolics remains largely unresolved. We constructed silver birch (Betula pendula) lines with modified phenolic metabolism to study the effects of foliar flavonoids and condensed tannins on consumption and growth of larvae of a generalist herbivore, the autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata). We conducted a feeding experiment using birch lines in which expression of dihydroflavonol reductase (DFR), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) or anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) had been decreased by RNA interference. Modification-specific effects on plant phenolics, nutrients and phenotype, and on larval consumption and growth were analyzed using uni- and multivariate methods. Inhibiting DFR expression increased the concentration of flavonoids at the expense of condensed tannins, and silencing DFR and ANR decreased leaf and plant size. E. autumnata larvae consumed on average 82% less of DFRi plants than of unmodified controls, suggesting that flavonoids or glandular trichomes deter larval feeding. However, larval growth efficiency was highest on low-tannin DFRi plants, indicating that condensed tannins (or their monomers) are physiologically more harmful than non-tannin flavonoids for E. autumnata larvae. Our results show that genetic manipulation of the flavonoid pathway in plants can effectively be used to produce altered phenolic profiles required for elucidating the roles of low-molecular weight phenolics and condensed tannins in plant–herbivore relationships, and suggest that phenolic secondary metabolites participate in regulation of plant growth.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
Autumnal moth
Flavonoid
Moths
01 natural sciences
Biochemistry
Article
Host-Parasite Interactions
Anthocyanidin reductase
03 medical and health sciences
RNA interference
Botany
Animals
Condensed tannins
Herbivory
Betula
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Plant Proteins
Flavonoids
chemistry.chemical_classification
biology
fungi
food and beverages
General Medicine
Plants, Genetically Modified
biology.organism_classification
Trichome
Alcohol Oxidoreductases
030104 developmental biology
chemistry
Phytochemical
Proanthocyanidin
Betula pendula
Larva
Epirrita
Oxygenases
Epirrita autumnata
Phenolics
Tannins
010606 plant biology & botany
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15731561 and 00980331
- Volume :
- 46
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Chemical Ecology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....bad7bd1f7875a0318bd36518c4481add