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Transgenerational induction of defences in animals and plants

Author

Listed:
  • Anurag A. Agrawal

    (University of California at Davis)

  • Christian Laforsch

    (Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, Zoological Institute)

  • Ralph Tollrian

    (Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, Zoological Institute)

Abstract

Predators are potent agents of natural selection in biological communities. Experimental studies have shown that the introduction of predators can cause rapid evolution of defensive morphologies and behaviours in prey1,2,3,4,5 and chemical defences in plants6,7. Such defences may be constitutively expressed (phenotypically fixed) or induced when predators initially attack8,9,10. Here we show that non-lethal exposure of an animal to carnivores, and a plant to a herbivore, not only induces a defence, but causes the attacked organisms to produce offspring that are better defended than offspring from unthreatened parents. This transgenerational effect, referred to as a maternally induced defence, is in contrast to the more common defences induced in single individuals within a generation. Transgenerational induction of defences is a new level of phenotypic plasticity across generations that may be an important component of predator–prey interactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Anurag A. Agrawal & Christian Laforsch & Ralph Tollrian, 1999. "Transgenerational induction of defences in animals and plants," Nature, Nature, vol. 401(6748), pages 60-63, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:401:y:1999:i:6748:d:10.1038_43425
    DOI: 10.1038/43425
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    Cited by:

    1. Noa Deshe & Yifat Eliezer & Lihi Hoch & Eyal Itskovits & Eduard Bokman & Shachaf Ben-Ezra & Alon Zaslaver, 2023. "Inheritance of associative memories and acquired cellular changes in C. elegans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Judy A Stamps & Alison M Bell, 2021. "Combining information from parental and personal experiences: Simple processes generate diverse outcomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Hammerstein, Peter & Leimar, Olof, 2015. "Evolutionary Game Theory in Biology," Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications,, Elsevier.
    4. Bram Kuijper & Rufus A Johnstone & Stuart Townley, 2014. "The Evolution of Multivariate Maternal Effects," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-11, April.
    5. Xiaohe Lin & Junjie Yin & Yifan Wang & Jing Yao & Qingshun Q. Li & Vit Latzel & Oliver Bossdorf & Yuan-Ye Zhang, 2024. "Environment-induced heritable variations are common in Arabidopsis thaliana," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Lauren Brzozowski & Michael Mazourek, 2018. "A Sustainable Agricultural Future Relies on the Transition to Organic Agroecological Pest Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-25, June.

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