title: Just in time: circadian defense patterns and the optimal defense hypothesis.
abstract: The optimal defense hypothesis (ODH) provides a functional explanation for the inhomogeneous distribution of defensive structures and defense metabolites throughout a plant's body: tissues that are most valuable in terms of fitness and have the highest probability of attack are generally the best defended. In a previous review, we argue that ontogenically-controlled accumulations of defense metabolites are likely regulated through an integration of developmental and defense signaling pathways. In this addendum, we extend the discussion of ODH patterns by including the recent discoveries of circadian clock-controlled defenses in plants.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology; Department of Molecular Ecology; Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Ian T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meldau
mesh_terms: D057906:Circadian Clocks; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D057865:Plant Immunity; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014026:Nicotiana
keywords: Nicotiana attenuata; circadian clock; herbivory; jasmonic acid; optimal defense hypothesis