No free lunch in nature either - the dilemma of plants fighting infections
Individuals of one and the same plant species often differ greatly in their ability to resist pathogens: While one rose succumbs to bacterial infection, its neighbour blissfully thrives. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Developmental Biology in Germany have tracked down an explanation for this common phenomenon. Their conclusion: disease resistance can incur high costs. Especially resistant plants of mouse ear cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) produce fewer and small leaves, and have a competitive disadvantage in the absence of enemies. Whether it is better to invest into disease resistance or biomass is thus very much dependent on the unpredictable circumstances a plant may find itself in. Therefore both large, but vulnerable plants co-exist in nature with small, but well-protected ones...