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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Divergent responses of above- and below-ground chemical defence to nitrogen and phosphorus supply in waratahs (Telopea speciosissima)

Edita Ritmejerytė https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8605-9198 A B D , Berin A. Boughton B C , Michael J. Bayly B and Rebecca E. Miller A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Richmond, Vic. 3121, Australia.

B School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.

C Metabolomics Australia, School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: edita.ritmejeryte@gmail.com

Functional Plant Biology 46(12) 1134-1145 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP19122
Submitted: 2 May 2019  Accepted: 16 July 2019   Published: 16 October 2019

Abstract

Plant nutrition can affect the allocation of resources to plant chemical defences, yet little is known about how phosphorus (P) supply, and relative nitrogen (N) and P supply, affect chemical defences, especially in species with intrinsically conservative nutrient use adapted to P-impoverished soils. Waratah (Telopea speciosissima (Sm.) R.Br.), like other Proteaceae, is adapted nutrient-poor soils. It was identified as having cyanogenic glycosides (CNglycs) throughout the plant. T. speciosissima seedlings were grown for 15 weeks under two N and P concentrations. CNglycs (N-based defence) and nutrients were quantified in above- and below-ground organs; foliar carbon (C)-based phenolics and tannins were also quantified. CNglyc concentrations in roots were on average 51-fold higher than in above-ground tissues and were affected by both N and P supply, whereas foliar CNglyc concentrations only responded to N supply. Leaves had high concentrations of C-based defences, which increased under low N, and were not correlated with N-based defences. Greater root chemical defence against herbivores and pathogens may be important in a non-mycorrhizal species that relies on basal resprouting following disturbance. The differing responses of secondary chemistry in above- and below-ground organs to P and N demonstrate the importance of broadening the predominantly foliar focus of plant defence studies.

Additional keywords: cyanogenesis, cyanogenic glucoside, phenolics, phenotypic plasticity, plant defence, resource allocation.


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