Evolutionary irony: evidence that ‘defensive’ plant spines act as a proximate cue to attract a mammalian herbivore

Kohl, Kevin D.; Miller, Aaron W.; Dearing, M. Denise

doi:10.1111/oik.02004

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…cactus pads, the main component of the natural diet for this population [18]. Following the methods of Kohl et al [18], we further analyzed stable isotopes from hair of collected woodrats and confirmed that these individuals specialized on cacti ( Fig. S1).…”

Section: Animal Collectionsupporting

confidence: 54%

“…The white-throated woodrat (Neotoma albigula) is an excellent model system to explore gut microbial changes associated with lifestyle modifications imposed by captivity, because their natural diet can be replicated in captive settings. Although N. albigula is considered a generalist herbivore, certain populations in the southwest of the United States feed almost exclusively on cacti of the genus Opuntia [18,19]. We took advantage of this dietary specialization and the feasibility of recreating the natural diet in captive conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Natural diets promote retention of the native gut microbiota in captive rodents

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wild animals entering captivity experience radical lifestyle changes resulting in microbiome alterations. However, little is known about the factors that drive microbial community shifts in captivity, and what actions could mitigate microbial changes. Using white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula), we tested whether offering natural diets in captivity facilitates retention of native microbial communities of captive animals. Wild-caught woodrats were brought to laboratory conditions. Woodrats received either a natural diet of Opuntia cactus or an artificial diet of commercial chow over three weeks. Microbial inventories from woodrat feces at the time of capture and in captivity were generated using Illumina 16S rRNA sequencing. We found that providing woodrats with wild-natural diets significantly mitigated alterations in their microbiota, promoting a 90% retention of native microbial communities across the experiment. In contrast, the artificial diet significantly impacted microbial structure to the extent that 38% of the natural microflora was lost. Core bacteria including Bifidobacterium and Allobaculum were lost, and abundances of microbes related to oxalate degradation decreased in individuals fed artificial but not natural diets. These results highlight the importance of supplementing captive diets with natural foods to maintain native microbiomes of animals kept in artificial conditions for scientific or conservation purposes.

show abstract

Section: Animal Collectionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural diets promote retention of the native gut microbiota in captive rodents

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The chemical composition of secondary metabolites, analyzed by phytochemical profiling, has allowed the identification of the principal compounds in the stem (Loza-Cornejo et al, 2017), the structural chemical composition of stem conductive tissues (Reyes-Rivera et al, 2015; Maceda et al, 2018; Reyes-Rivera et al, 2018), and from other structures such as glochids and spines in several cacti species (Pritchard and Hall, 1976; Kohl et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in the Structural Chemical Composition of the Primary Xylem of Cactaceae: A Topochemical Perspective

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The xylem of Cactaceae is a complex system with different types of cells whose main function is to conduct and store water, mostly during the development of primary xylem, which has vessel elements and wide-band tracheids. The anatomy of primary xylem of Cactaceae has been widely studied, but little is known about its chemical composition. The aim of this study was to determine the structural chemical composition of the primary xylem of Cactaceae and to compare it with the anatomy in the group. Seeds from eight cacti species were used, representing the Pereskioideae, Opuntioideae, and Cactoideae subfamilies. Seeds were germinated and grown for 8 months. Subsequently, only the stem of the seedling was selected, dried, milled, and processed following the TAPPI T-222 om-02 norm; lignin was quantified using the Klason method and cellulose with the Kurshner–Höffer method. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the percentage of syringyl and guaiacyl in lignin was calculated. Seedlings of each species were fixed, sectioned, and stained for their anatomical description and fluorescence microscopy analysis for the topochemistry of the primary xylem. The results showed that there were significant differences between species (p < 0.05), except in the hemicelluloses. Through a principal component analysis, it was found that the amount of extractive-free stem and hot water-soluble extractives were the variables that separated the species, followed by cellulose and hemicelluloses since the seedlings developed mainly parenchyma cells and the conductive tissue showed vessel elements and wide-band tracheids, both with annular and helical thickenings in secondary walls. The type of lignin with the highest percentage was guaiacyl-type, which is accumulated mainly in the vessels, providing rigidity. Whereas in the wide-band tracheids from metaxylem, syringyl lignin accumulated in the secondary walls S2 and S3, which permits an efficient flow of water and gives the plant the ability to endure difficult conditions during seedling development. Only one species can be considered to have paedomorphosis since the conductive elements had a similar chemistry in primary and secondary xylem.

show abstract

“…Many plants employ structural defenses such as spines, hairs, or thickened leaves (reviewed by Hanley et al 2007;Farmer 2014), and some herbivores have developed counter-adaptations to spinescent plants. The caterpillar Hyphantria cunea consumes the central portion of spinescent holly leaves (Potter and Kimmerer 1988), while the woodrat Neotoma albigula removes the spines when feeding on spinescent cactus leaves (Kohl et al 2015). The oak Q. acutissima in this study also has several spines along each leaf margin (see Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Folivory with leaf folding by giant flying squirrels: its patterns and possible function

Ito

Seto

Rico

et al. 2016

Ecological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Japanese giant flying squirrels, Petaurista leucogenys, are entirely arboreal folivores. From spring to summer, their principal food source consists of leaves of the deciduous oak Quercus acutissima in western Tokyo, Japan. Before consuming the central part of each leaf, the squirrels fold the leaf two or more times with their forelegs. In the wild, leaf folding is a very rare behavior, even in primates. In our study, this peculiar feeding behavior was not observed across all study sites or even in some local populations. Herbivores generally try to maximize their intake of nutritious foods (e.g., sugars) containing low levels of plant defensive chemicals (e.g., phenols). We found that total phenolic contents in individual leaves of Q. acutissima were lower in the center than at the margins, whereas sugar (glucose) was homogenously distributed. Consequently, consumption of only leaf centers appears to be an adaptation by Japanese giant flying squirrels to avoid leaf margin defensive chemicals and structures. These leaf margin characteristics, which may have developed as defenses against herbivorous insects that generally feed from the margins, have contributed to the skillful and complex feeding behavior of this generalist folivore.

show abstract

Evolutionary irony: evidence that ‘defensive’ plant spines act as a proximate cue to attract a mammalian herbivore

Cited by 9 publications

References 46 publications

Natural diets promote retention of the native gut microbiota in captive rodents

Natural diets promote retention of the native gut microbiota in captive rodents

Differences in the Structural Chemical Composition of the Primary Xylem of Cactaceae: A Topochemical Perspective

Folivory with leaf folding by giant flying squirrels: its patterns and possible function

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About