Summary: Functional
Ecology 2005
19, 1025­1031
© 2005 British
Ecological Society
1025
Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.
Trade-offs between the shade-avoidance response and
plant resistance to herbivores? Tests with mutant
Cucumis sativus
R. MCGUIRE* and A. A. AGRAWAL
*Department of Botany, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada, and
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-2701, USA
Summary
1. Plants exhibit adaptations to many stresses, including light competition and herbivory.
The expression of these traits may interact negatively, potentially instigating a trade-off.
2. We employed a combination of genetically altered Cucumis sativus varieties and
phenotypic manipulations to test for trade-offs in field experiments. The different
genetic lines of C. sativus were altered in their phytochrome-mediated shade responses
and the production of terpenoid defence compounds.

Source: Agrawal, Anurag - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Entomollogy, Cornell University

Collections: Environmental Sciences and Ecology