Using natural variation to achieve a whole‐plant functional understanding of the responses mediated by jasmonate signaling. (29th April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ray, Rishav; Li, Dapeng; Halitschke, Rayko; Baldwin, Ian T.
• Is Part Of: Plant journal. Volume 99:Number 3(2019)
• Page Start: 414
• Page End: 425
• Publication Date: 2019-04-29
• Subjects: Jasmonate signaling -- natural variation -- plant fitness -- tissue specificity -- MAGIC population, Nicotiana attenuata; Plant molecular biology -- Periodicals; Plant cells and tissues -- Periodicals; Botany -- Periodicals; 580
• DOI: 10.1111/tpj.14331
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-7412

Abstract

Summary: The dramatic advances in our understanding of the molecular biology and biochemistry of jasmonate (JA) signaling have been the subject of several excellent recent reviews that have highlighted the phytohormonal function of this signaling pathway. Here, we focus on the responses mediated by JA signaling which have consequences for a plant's Darwinian fitness, i.e. the organism‐level function of JA signaling. The most diverse module in the signaling cascade, the JAZ proteins, and their interactions with other proteins and transcription factors, allow this canonical signaling cascade to mediate a bewildering array of traits in different tissues at different times; the functional coherence of these diverse responses are best appreciated in an organismal/ecological context. From published work, it appears that jasmonates can function as the 'Swiss Army knife' of plant signaling, mediating many different biotic and abiotic stress and developmental responses that allow plants to contextualize their responses to their frequently changing local environments and optimize their fitness. We propose that a deeper analysis of the natural variation in both within‐plant and within‐population JA signaling components is a profitable means of attaining a coherent whole‐plant functional perspective of this signaling cascade, and provide examples of this approach from the Nicotiana attenuata system. Significance Statement: Natural variation in jasmonate signaling, both within the plant and within populations, can provide a means of gaining a coherent whole‐plant functional perspective of this signaling cascade. Multiparent advanced generation inter‐cross (MAGIC) populations can capture this natural variation for a species.