Using natural variation to achieve a whole‐plant functional understanding of the responses mediated by jasmonate signaling

Abstract

Summary The dramatic advances in our understanding of the molecular biology and biochemistry of jasmonate (JA) signaling have been the subject of several excellent recent reviews that have highlighted the phytohormonal function of this signaling pathway. Here, we focus on the responses mediated by JA signaling which have consequences for a plant's Darwinian fitness, i.e. the organism‐level function of JA signaling. The most diverse module in the signaling cascade, the JAZ proteins, and their interactions with other proteins and transcription factors, allow this canonical signaling cascade to mediate a bewildering array of traits in different tissues at different times; the functional coherence of these diverse responses are best appreciated in an organismal/ecological context. From published work, it appears that jasmonates can function as the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of plant signaling, mediating many different biotic and abiotic stress and developmental responses that allow plants to contextualize their responses to their frequently changing local environments and optimize their fitness. We propose that a deeper analysis of the natural variation in both within‐plant and within‐population JA signaling components is a profitable means of attaining a coherent whole‐plant functional perspective of this signaling cascade, and provide examples of this approach from the Nicotiana attenuata system.

Jasmonates: what ALLENE OXIDE SYNTHASE does for plants

“…How can we integrate what is known about jasmonate action into the larger context of plant responses to the environment? Ongoing work aimed at understanding natural variations that affect jasmonate pathway activity in Nicotiana attenuata (Ray et al , 2019) promise to greatly extend our appreciation of jasmonate activity in nature. In parallel, there is constant progress in understanding the molecular basis of defense against insects (reviewed in Erb and Reymond, 2019; Wang et al , 2019).…”

Different sets of TaCKX genes affect yield-related traits in wheat plants grown in a controlled environment and in field conditions

“…Transgenic solutions to increase yield in wheat seemed to be very promising, but no transgenic cultivar has yet been approved [ 5 ]. On the other hand, natural variation is proposed as a profitable rich source of research objects to understand the responses mediated by jasmonate signalling [ 34 ]. We have been testing two alternative strategies of changing TaCKX -dependent cytokinin regulation in order to increase grain yield in wheat.…”

Plant-herbivore interactions: experimental demonstration of genetic variability in plant-plant signaling

“…AT3G03380 increases stress protection of the photosystem II in Arabidopsis thaliana (Luciński et al, 2011). Interestingly, we found that variation in leaf consumption was associated with the AT3G10050 gene, which encodes the first enzyme in the synthetic pathway of isoleucine, an activator of jasmonic acid (Staswick and Tiryaki, 2004) that is a well-known molecule involved in plant-plant and plant-herbivore interactions (Ray et al, 2019). Although these genes remain to be validated, for instance using mutant phenotype expressions, they are promising candidates to progress our understanding of the mechanisms involved in plant defenses against herbivore mediated by plant-plant interactions.…”