Testing for priming effects in the native weed horsenettle

Many plants release characteristic blends of volatiles in response to herbivore attack. These herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) have been found to attract predatory insects and repel ovipositing herbivore females. Recently, HIPV have been found to induce conspecific undamaged plants to prepare their own defenses against herbivore attack, leading to decreased herbivory or faster production of their own induced volatiles following a subsequent herbivore attack. Solanum carolinense, horsenettle, is a wild weedy plant in the Solanaceous family. Horsenettle reproduces both sexually through seeds and asexually through clonal rhizomes. It often occurs in dense patches of clones and non-clones, and is an ideal candidate for testing priming effects in a wild plant. We investigate the priming effect in horsenettle by examining horsenettle response to plant volatiles induced by Manduca sexta feeding and the effects of HIPV on direct chemical defenses and induced volatile defenses.