Adapting to your chemical neighbor: Thyme and its associated plants
Bodil K Ehlers
Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark
It is well known that plant allolochemicals can have profound effects on associated species, and that plants with a history of co-existence with chemical neighbour plants perform better in their presence compared to naïve plants. This suggests that plant communities may indeed be quite co-evolved and that associated plants may locally adapt to the presence of a “chemical neighbor” plant.
The genus Thymus is known for its production of aromatic compounds, whose main constitution is terpenes – mainly monoterpenes. The thyme genus has a genetic polymorphism for the production of these terpenes both within and among species. These monoterpenes are known to differentially affect performance of herbivores, soil-microorganisms, and the germination and growth of other plants. We have studies how associated plant species perform under the influence of thyme monoterpenes, and found that a number of plant species show an adaptive response to growing with their “home” terpene. In a recent study we demonstrated that associated plants show genetic variation for the sensitivity to thyme monoterpenes, and that this variation is in accordance with selection operating, thus suggesting that the presence of thyme plants in a community can act as a selective agent on the genetic variation of associated plants. Moreover, we have evidence that the outcome of the interaction with thyme and associated plants is strongly affected by the presence of soil microorganisms. I will present these findings and future plans and discuss how biotic interaction and intra species genetic variation can affect community structure and evolution.
Bodil K Ehlers
Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark
It is well known that plant allolochemicals can have profound effects on associated species, and that plants with a history of co-existence with chemical neighbour plants perform better in their presence compared to naïve plants. This suggests that plant communities may indeed be quite co-evolved and that associated plants may locally adapt to the presence of a “chemical neighbor” plant.
The genus Thymus is known for its production of aromatic compounds, whose main constitution is terpenes – mainly monoterpenes. The thyme genus has a genetic polymorphism for the production of these terpenes both within and among species. These monoterpenes are known to differentially affect performance of herbivores, soil-microorganisms, and the germination and growth of other plants. We have studies how associated plant species perform under the influence of thyme monoterpenes, and found that a number of plant species show an adaptive response to growing with their “home” terpene. In a recent study we demonstrated that associated plants show genetic variation for the sensitivity to thyme monoterpenes, and that this variation is in accordance with selection operating, thus suggesting that the presence of thyme plants in a community can act as a selective agent on the genetic variation of associated plants. Moreover, we have evidence that the outcome of the interaction with thyme and associated plants is strongly affected by the presence of soil microorganisms. I will present these findings and future plans and discuss how biotic interaction and intra species genetic variation can affect community structure and evolution.
