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Genetic determination of tannins and herbivore resistance in Quercus ilex

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Abstract

Genetic variability of trees influences the chemical composition of tissues. This determines herbivore impact and, consequently, herbivore performance. We evaluated the independent effects of plant genotype and provenance on the tannin content of holm oak (Quercus ilex) and their consequences for herbivory and performance of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larvae. Oak seedlings of 48 open-pollinated families from six populations were grown in a common garden in central Spain. Half the plants were subjected to defoliation by gypsy moth larvae and the other half were destructively sampled for chemical analysis. Tannin content of leaves did not differ significantly among populations but differed significantly among families. Estimates of heritability (h 2) and quantitative genetic differentiation among populations for tannin content (Q ST) were 0.83 and 0.12, respectively. Defoliation was not related to the tannin content of plants nor to spine and trichome densities of leaves, although positive family–mean associations were observed between defoliation and both seed weight and plant height (P < 0.003). Among the oak populations, differential increase in larval weight gain with defoliation was observed. Leaf tannin content in Q. ilex is genetically controlled but does not influence defoliation or predict performance of the larvae. Different efficiencies of food utilisation depending on the oak genotypes indicate that other plant traits are influencing the feeding patterns and fitness of L. dispar and consequent population dynamics.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Adrián Mateos, Andrea Pérez and Marta Company for technical help, Dr. Rafael Zas (Misión Biológica, CSIC) for kindly helping us with the statistics, and Jane McGrath for correcting the manuscript. We thank Dr. Rowland Burdon and one anonymous reviewer for very useful comments on the manuscript. This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente) (project 956, ‘Determinants of biotic resistance in a model tree species: a new tool for adaptive management in national parks’) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (project 43007, ‘Studying climate change and its influence on the environment: impacts, adaptation and mitigation’).

Data archiving statement

Tannin content, defoliation and plant and larval performance data may be requested from the corresponding author (asolla@unex.es).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ingeniería Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida Virgen del Puerto 2, 10600, Plasencia, Spain

    Alejandro Solla, Ana Bueno, Yonatan Cáceres, Gerardo Moreno & Fernando Pulido

  2. Institute of Dehesa Research (INDEHESA), Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain

    Alejandro Solla, Yonatan Cáceres, Gerardo Moreno & Fernando Pulido

  3. Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade University, Kneza Višeslava 1, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia

    Slobodan Milanović

  4. Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 3, 61300, Brno, Czech Republic

    Slobodan Milanović

  5. Instituto Universitario IProCar, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003, Cáceres, Spain

    Alejandro Gallardo & David Morcuende

  6. Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape (BFW), Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, 1130, Vienna, Austria

    Tamara Corcobado

  7. Departamento de Bioquímica, Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Veterinaria, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003, Cáceres, Spain

    Alberto Quesada

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  1. Alejandro Solla
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  2. Slobodan Milanović
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  3. Alejandro Gallardo
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  4. Ana Bueno
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  5. Tamara Corcobado
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  8. Alberto Quesada
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  9. Gerardo Moreno
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  10. Fernando Pulido
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Correspondence to Alejandro Solla.

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Communicated by R. Burdon

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Solla, A., Milanović, S., Gallardo, A. et al. Genetic determination of tannins and herbivore resistance in Quercus ilex . Tree Genetics & Genomes 12, 117 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-016-1069-9

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