PYI: Integration of Physiological and Chemical Responses to Herbivory

当植物的叶子被食草动物吃掉时，在剩下的叶子中可以观察到防御和生理反应。这些反应分别有助于植物对草食的抗性和恢复力。这些反应的代谢整合在很大程度上尚未被探索，将在叶片损伤导致叶片生物碱大幅（4倍）增加和光合能力大幅（2倍）增加的物种中进行研究。具体来说，我们将利用15N和14c标记的生物碱来研究氮密集响应对草食的代谢整合，以跟踪根与茎之间以及生物碱与蛋白质代谢之间的氮和碳运动。氮素从生物碱向叶片光合蛋白的转移与损伤后叶片光合能力的变化有关。研究化学防御作为植物再生那些被食草动物失去的组织的生理过程的一个组成部分，将加强我们对植物化学防御进化的理解。

When the leaves of a plant are eaten by an herbivore, both defensive and physiological responses are observed in the remaining leaves. These responses contribute to a plant's resistance and resilience to herbivory, respectively. The metabolic integration of these responses has gone largely unexplored and will be examined in a species where leaf damage results in large (4-fold) increases in leaf alkaloids and large (2-fold) increases in the photosynthetic capacity. Specifically, the metabolic integration of the nitrogen-intensive responses to herbivory will be investigated using 15N and 14C-labeled alkaloid to follow the movement of nitrogen and carbon between root and shoot and between alkaloid and protein metabolism. The movement of nitrogen from alkaloid to leaf photosynthetic proteins will be correlated with changes in the photosynthetic capacity of leaves after damage. Examining chemical defenses as an integral part of the physiological processes by which plants regrow those tissues lost to herbivores, will strengthen our understanding of the evolution of chemical defenses in plants.