Plants protect themselves from herbivores by optimizing the distribution of chemical defenses

Evidence for tissue‐specific defence‐offence interactions between milkweed and its community of specialized herbivores

“…Defence trade‐offs may also arise from physiological constraints that prevent defences to be homogeneously distributed between different tissues. Mobilization of plant defences between tissues do not occur in the same way for all classes of compounds, and may probably be restricted to more polar (i.e., water‐soluble) substances (Gershenzon & Ullah, 2022). This may generate a gradient in cardenolides across milkweed tissues, in particular restricting nonpolar cardenolides from seeds.…”

The Role of Hydroxycinnamic Acid Amide Pathway in Plant Immunity

“…Plants are well stocked with chemical defense compounds that function in protection against herbivores and pathogens ( Gershenzon and Ullah, 2022 ). The global metabolic reprogramming is a common event in plant innate immunity.…”

The ins and outs of transporters at plasma membrane and tonoplast in plant specialized metabolism

“…Within plant defense, transporters give plants the ability to (re)mobilize toxic chemicals rapidly to sites where they are needed and thus save the cost of de novo biosynthesis. 1 Such mobility is likely restricted to hydrophilic specialized metabolites such as alkaloids, glucosinolates, cyanogenic glucosides, iridoid glycosides and other glycosides that are transported long distances across different tissues. 1 As examples, nicotine is synthesized in the roots and moved above-ground along the xylem, glucosinolates are moved along the phloem.…”

“…1 Such mobility is likely restricted to hydrophilic specialized metabolites such as alkaloids, glucosinolates, cyanogenic glucosides, iridoid glycosides and other glycosides that are transported long distances across different tissues. 1 As examples, nicotine is synthesized in the roots and moved above-ground along the xylem, glucosinolates are moved along the phloem. 2 In contrast, most lipophilic compounds such as many terpenes, precursors and derivatives of fatty acids and volatiles are typically synthesized in cells adjacent to the site of storage e.g.…”