A Trip Back Home: Resistance to Herbivores of Native and Non-Native Plant Populations of Datura stramonium.

When colonizing new ranges, plant populations may benefit from the absence of the checks imposed by the enemies, herbivores, and pathogens that regulated their numbers in their original range. Therefore, rates of plant damage or infestation by natural enemies are expected to be lower in the new range. Exposing both non-native and native plant populations in the native range, where native herbivores are present, can be used to test whether resistance mechanisms have diverged between populations. Datura stramonium is native to the Americas but widely distributed in Spain, where populations show lower herbivore damage than populations in the native range. We established experiments in two localities in the native range (Mexico), exposing two native and two non-native D. stramonium populations to natural herbivores. Plant performance differed between the localities, as did the abundance of the main specialist herbivore, Lema daturaphila. In Teotihuacán, where L. daturaphila is common, native plants had significantly more adult beetles and herbivore damage than non-native plants. The degree of infestation by the specialist seed predator Trichobaris soror differed among populations and between sites, but the native Ticumán population always had the lowest level of infestation. The Ticumán population also had the highest concentration of the alkaloid scopolamine. Scopolamine was negatively related to the number of eggs deposited by L. daturaphila in Teotihuacán. There was among-family variation in herbivore damage (resistance), alkaloid content (scopolamine), and infestation by L. daturaphila and T. soror, indicating genetic variation and potential for further evolution. Although native and non-native D. stramonium populations have not yet diverged in plant resistance/constitutive defense, the differences between ranges (and the two experimental sites) in the type and abundance of herbivores suggest that further research is needed on the role of resource availability and adaptive plasticity, specialized metabolites (induced, constitutive), and the relationship between genealogical origin and plant defense in both ranges.

The chromosome-scale genome and the genetic resistance machinery against insect herbivores of the Mexican toloache, Datura stramonium.

Plant resistance refers to the heritable ability of plants to reduce damage caused by natural enemies, such as herbivores and pathogens, either through constitutive or induced traits like chemical compounds or trichomes. However, the genetic architecture-the number and genome location of genes that affect plant defense and the magnitude of their effects-of plant resistance to arthropod herbivores in natural populations remains poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to unveil the genetic architecture of plant resistance to insect herbivores in the annual herb Datura stramonium (Solanaceae) through quantitative trait loci mapping. We achieved this by assembling the species' genome and constructing a linkage map using an F2 progeny transplanted into natural habitats. Furthermore, we conducted differential gene expression analysis between undamaged and damaged plants caused by the primary folivore, Lema daturaphila larvae. Our genome assembly resulted in 6,109 scaffolds distributed across 12 haploid chromosomes. A single quantitative trait loci region on chromosome 3 was associated with plant resistance, spanning 0 to 5.17 cM. The explained variance by the quantitative trait loci was 8.44%. Our findings imply that the resistance mechanisms of D. stramonium are shaped by the complex interplay of multiple genes with minor effects. Protein-protein interaction networks involving genes within the quantitative trait loci region and overexpressed genes uncovered the key role of receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases in signaling and regulating tropane alkaloids and terpenoids, which serve as powerful chemical defenses against D. stramonium herbivores. The data generated in our study constitute important resources for delving into the evolution and ecology of secondary compounds mediating plant-insect interactions.

Inter-annual variation in the abundance of specialist herbivores determines plant resistance in Datura stramonium.

The expression of plant resistance traits against arthropod herbivores often comes with costs to other essential plant functions such as growth and fitness. These trade-offs are shaped by the allocation of limited resources. However, plants might also possess the capability to allocate resources to both resistance and growth, thereby ensuring their survival when under herbivore attacks. Additionally, the extent of damage caused by herbivores could vary across different years or seasons, subsequently impacting plant performance. In this study, we aimed to investigate how the annual variations in herbivore abundance and damage levels affect plant performance. We generated F2 progeny through a cross between two populations of the annual herb Datura stramonium (Solanaceae). These populations are known to have differing levels of chemical defense and herbivory. These F2 plants were cultivated in a common natural environment for two consecutive years (2017 and 2018). Our findings reveal that plants with higher resistance, attained higher seed production but this trend was evident only during 2018. This relationship coincided with a five-fold increase in the abundance of Lema daturaphila (Chrysomelidae) larvae in 2018. Indeed, the plants experienced a 13-fold increase in damage during this second year of study. Furthermore, our results indicated that there was no trade-off between resistance, growth, and fitness in either of the 2 years. In contrast, during 2018, when plants faced stronger herbivore pressure, they allocated all available nutritional resources to enhance both resistance and growth. Our study highlights how the selection for plant resistance is dependent upon the inter-annual variation in herbivore abundance.

Nuclear and chloroplast DNA phylogeography reveals high genetic diversity and postglacial range expansion in Quercus mexicana.

PREMISE: Phylogeographical studies are fundamental for understanding factors that influence the spatial distribution of genetic lineages within species. Population expansions and contractions, distribution shifts, and climate changes are among the most important factors shaping the genetic compositions of populations. METHODS: We investigated the phylogeography of an endemic oak, Quercus mexicana (Fagaceae), which has a restricted distribution in northeastern Mexico along the Sierra Madre Oriental and adjacent areas. Nuclear and chloroplast DNA microsatellite markers were used to describe the genetic diversity and structure of 39 populations of Q. mexicana along its entire distribution area. We tested whether population expansion or contraction events influenced the genetic diversity and structure of the species. We also modeled the historical distributional range of Q. mexicana (for the Mid Holocene, the Last Glacial Maximum, and the Last Interglacial) to estimate the extent to which climate fluctuations have impacted the distribution of this oak species. RESULTS: Our results revealed high genetic diversity and low genetic structure in Q. mexicana populations. Ecological niche models suggested historical fluctuations in the distributional range of Q. mexicana. Historical range changes, gene flow, and physical barriers seem to have played an important role in shaping the phylogeographic structure of Q. mexicana. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that the genetic structure of Q. mexicana may have been the result of responses of oak trees not only to heterogeneous environments present in the Sierra Madre Oriental and adjacent areas, but also to elevational and latitudinal shifts in response to climate changes in the past.

Evolutionary Ecology of Plant-Arthropod Interactions in Light of the "Omics" Sciences: A Broad Guide.

Aboveground plant-arthropod interactions are typically complex, involving herbivores, predators, pollinators, and various other guilds that can strongly affect plant fitness, directly or indirectly, and individually, synergistically, or antagonistically. However, little is known about how ongoing natural selection by these interacting guilds shapes the evolution of plants, i.e., how they affect the differential survival and reproduction of genotypes due to differences in phenotypes in an environment. Recent technological advances, including next-generation sequencing, metabolomics, and gene-editing technologies along with traditional experimental approaches (e.g., quantitative genetics experiments), have enabled far more comprehensive exploration of the genes and traits involved in complex ecological interactions. Connecting different levels of biological organization (genes to communities) will enhance the understanding of evolutionary interactions in complex communities, but this requires a multidisciplinary approach. Here, we review traditional and modern methods and concepts, then highlight future avenues for studying the evolution of plant-arthropod interactions (e.g., plant-herbivore-pollinator interactions). Besides promoting a fundamental understanding of plant-associated arthropod communities' genetic background and evolution, such knowledge can also help address many current global environmental challenges.

Tropane alkaloids and terpenes synthase genes of Datura stramonium (Solanaceae).

BACKGROUND: Plants have evolved physical-chemical defense to prevent/diminish damage by their enemies. Chemical defense involves the synthesis' pathways of specialized toxic, repellent, or anti-nutritive metabolites to herbivores. Molecular evolutionary studies have revealed the origin of new genes, acquisition and functional diversification along time in different plant lineages. METHODS: Using bioinformatic tools we analyze gene divergence of tropane alkaloids (TAs) and terpene synthases (TPSs) in Datura stramonium and other species of Solanaceae; compared gene and amino acids sequence of TAs and TPSs on genomes, cDNA and proteins sequences of Viridiplantae. We analyzed two recently assembled genomes of D. stramonium (Ticumán and Teotihuacán), transcriptomes of Datura metel and genomes of other Solanaceae. Hence, we analyzed variation of TAs and TPSs to infer genes involved in plant defense and plant responses before stress. We analyzed protein modeling and molecular docking to predict interactions between H6H and ligand; we translated the sequences (Teo19488, Tic8550 and Tic8549) obtained from the two genomes of D. stramonium by using Swiss-Model and Ramachandran plot and MolProbity structure validation of Teo19488 protein model. RESULTS: For TAs, we detected an expansion event in the tropinone reductase II (TRII) and the ratio synonymous/non-synonymous substitutions indicate positive selection. In contrast, a contraction event and negative selection was detected in tropinone reductase I (TRI). In Hy-oscyamine 6 b-hydroxylase (H6H), enzyme involved in the production of tropane alkaloids atropine and scopolamine, the synonymous/non-synonymous substitution ratio in its dominion indicates positive selection. For terpenes (TPS), we found 18 DsTPS in D. stramomiun and seven in D. metel; evolutionary analyses detected positive selection in TPS10.1 and TPS10.2 of D. stramonium and D. metel. Comparison of copies of TPSs in D. stramonium detected variation among them in the binding site. Duplication events and differentiation of TAs and TPSs of D. stramonium, as compared to other Solanaceae, suggest their possible involvement on adaptive evolution of defense to herbivores. Protein modeling and docking show that the three protein structures obtained of DsH6H from Teo19488, Tic-8550 and Tic8549 maintain the same interactions and the union site of 2OG-FeII_Oxy with the Hy-o ligand as in 6TTM of D. metel. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate differences in the number of gene copies involved in the synthesis of tropane alkaloids, between the genomes of D. stramonium from two Mexican populations. More copies of genes related to the synthesis of tropane alkaloids (TRI, TRII, H6H, PMT) are found in D. stramonium as compared to Viridiplantae. Likewise, for terpene synthases (TPS), TPS-10 is duplicated in D. stramonium and D. metel. Further studies should be directed to experimentally assess gain (overexpression) or loss (silencing) of function of duplicated genes.

Genomic and chemical evidence for local adaptation in resistance to different herbivores in Datura stramonium.

Because most species are collections of genetically variable populations distributed to habitats differing in their abiotic/biotic environmental factors and community composition, the pattern and strength of natural selection imposed by species on each other's traits are also expected to be highly spatially variable. Here, we used genomic and quantitative genetic approaches to understand how spatially variable selection operates on the genetic basis of plant defenses to herbivores. To this end, an F2 progeny was generated by crossing Datura stramonium (Solanaceae) parents from two populations differing in their level of chemical defense. This F2 progeny was reciprocally transplanted into the parental plants' habitats and by measuring the identity by descent (IBD) relationship of each F2 plant to each parent, we were able to elucidate how spatially variable selection imposed by herbivores operated on the genetic background (IBD) of resistance to herbivory, promoting local adaptation. The results highlight that plants possessing the highest total alkaloid concentrations (sum of all alkaloid classes) were not the most well-defended or fit. Instead, specific alkaloids and their linked loci/alleles were favored by selection imposed by different herbivores. This has led to population differentiation in plant defenses and thus, to local adaptation driven by plant-herbivore interactions.