Statistical analyses of plant metabolites allow solid testing of plant defense theories
Saturday, June 13, 2020 - 10:50
in Biology & Nature
Do plants attacked by herbivores produce substances that are most effective against attackers in a targeted manner, or are herbivore-induced changes in a plant metabolism random, which could thwart the performance of herbivores? Scientists have tested these long-standing hypotheses for the first time using the coyote tobacco Nicotiana attenuata and its close relatives. They combined extensive measurements of known and unknown plant metabolites using mass spectrometry with statistical measures derived from information theory.