Plasticity in allocation of nicotine to reproductive parts inNicotiana attenuata.

Although little is known about the patterns of chemical defense allocation in reproductive tissues, optimal defense theory predicts a high constitutive allocation due to the tissues' high fitness value. To examine this prediction, we quantified the short- and long-term changes in the nicotine pools of reproductive tissues in response to both floral and leaf damage. Recently opened flowers (stage 5 capsules) do not alter their nicotine pools within a day in response to herbivory byManduca sexta larvae or mechanical damage to the corolla. Similarly, leaf damage during both vegetative and reproductive growth does not influence the nicotine pools of the first three stage-5 capsules produced. However, the nicotine pools of capsules produced later in reproductive growth were significantly larger (1.2- to 1.9-fold) on plants with leaf damage. These differences in floral nicotine pools were a result of both increases in nicotine pools of capsules on damaged plants and decreases in the nicotine pools of capsules on undamaged plants during reproductive growth. Leaf damage did not affect the rate of capsule maturation or the mass of stage-5 capsules at any time during reproductive growth. An allometric analysis of nicotine pools and biomass of reproductive parts in all stages of development from damaged and undamaged plants demonstrates that damaged plants allocated a significantly larger quantity of nicotine to reproductive parts in all stages of development than did undamaged plants. Given that nicotine is thought to be synthesized in the roots and transported to leaves and reproductive parts, nicotine could be allocated to reproductive parts in proportion to the number of developing capsules on a plant. We excised the first 27 stage-5 capsules on plants with and without leaf damage, with the expectation that plants with fewer capsules would allocate a larger amount of nicotine to the remaining capsules. In contrast to the prediction of this passive allocation model, floral excision did not affect nicotine pools on plants with or without leaf damage. These results demonstrate that the allocation of nicotine to reproductive parts is more strongly influenced by damage to vegetative rather than reproductive tissues. Reproductive parts are constitutively defended over the short term, but the set points for defense allocation are apparently increased by damage to vegetative tissues during reproductive growth. The decrease in allocation of nicotine to reproductive parts in undamaged plants during reproductive growth suggests an optimization of resource allocation as plants realize their potential fitness.