IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-37525-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bacterial detoxification of plant defence secondary metabolites mediates the interaction between a shrub and frugivorous birds

Author

Listed:
  • Beny Trabelcy

    (University of Haifa)

  • Nimrod Shteindel

    (University of Haifa)

  • Maya Lalzar

    (University of Haifa)

  • Ido Izhaki

    (University of Haifa)

  • Yoram Gerchman

    (University of Haifa
    Oranim College)

Abstract

Many plants produce fleshy fruits, attracting fruit-eating animals that disperse the seeds in their droppings. Such seed dispersal results in a conflict between the plant and the animal, as digestion of seeds can be highly beneficial to the animal but reduces plant fitness. The plant Ochradenus baccatus uses the myrosinase-glucosinolates system to protect its seeds. We show that hydrolysis of the O. baccatus fruit glucosinolates by the myrosinase enzyme inhibited digestive enzymes and hampered digestion in naïve individuals of the bird Pycnonotus xanthopygos. However, digestion in birds regularly feeding on O. baccatus fruits was unaffected. We find that Pantoea bacteria, dominating the gut of these experienced birds as well as the fruits, thrive on glucosinolates hydrolysis products in culture. Augmentation of Pantoea protects both naïve birds and plant seedlings from the effects of glucosinolates hydrolysis products. Our findings demonstrate a tripartite interaction, where the plant-bird mutually beneficial interactions are mediated by a communal bacterial tenant.

Suggested Citation

  • Beny Trabelcy & Nimrod Shteindel & Maya Lalzar & Ido Izhaki & Yoram Gerchman, 2023. "Bacterial detoxification of plant defence secondary metabolites mediates the interaction between a shrub and frugivorous birds," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-37525-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37525-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37525-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-37525-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wenjie Pan & Xuan Wang & Chunhua Ren & Xiao Jiang & Sanqiang Gong & Zhenyu Xie & Nai-Kei Wong & Xiaomin Li & Jiasheng Huang & Dingding Fan & Peng Luo & Yun Yang & Xinyue Ren & Suzhong Yu & Zhou Qin & , 2024. "Sea cucumbers and their symbiotic microbiome have evolved to feed on seabed sediments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-37525-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.