title: Control of Carbon Assimilation and Partitioning by Jasmonate: An Accounting of Growth-Defense Tradeoffs.
abstract: Plant growth is often constrained by the limited availability of resources in the microenvironment. Despite the continuous threat of attack from insect herbivores and pathogens, investment in defense represents a lost opportunity to expand photosynthetic capacity in leaves and absorption of nutrients and water by roots. To mitigate the metabolic expenditure on defense, plants have evolved inducible defense strategies. The plant hormone jasmonate (JA) is a key regulator of many inducible defenses. Synthesis of JA in response to perceived danger leads to the deployment of a variety of defensive structures and compounds, along with a potent inhibition of growth. Genetic studies have established an important role for JA in mediating tradeoffs between growth and defense. However, several gaps remain in understanding of how JA signaling inhibits growth, either through direct transcriptional control of JA-response genes or crosstalk with other signaling pathways. Here, we highlight recent progress in uncovering the role of JA in controlling growth-defense balance and its relationship to resource acquisition and allocation. We also discuss tradeoffs in the context of the ability of JA to promote increased leaf mass per area (LMA), which is a key indicator of leaf construction costs and leaf life span.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. nhavko@vetmed.wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Nathan E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Havko
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy-Plant Research Laboratory and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. majori@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Ian T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Major
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. jbjewell@wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Jeremy B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jewell
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. elham.attaran@wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Attaran
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. jab@wsu.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Browse
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy-Plant Research Laboratory and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. howeg@cns.msu.edu.
authors.forename: Gregg A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Howe
keywords: carbon partitioning; defense response; growth inhibition; growth–defense tradeoff; jasmonate; leaf mass per area