Evolutionary tradeoffs for nitrogen allocation to photosynthesis versus cell walls in an invasive plant

Yu-Long Feng; Yan-Bao Lei; Rui-Fang Wang; Ragan M. Callaway; Alfonso Valiente-Banuet; Inderjit; Yang-Ping Li; Yu-Long Zheng

doi:10.1073/pnas.0808434106

New Research In

Edited by James H. Brown, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, and approved December 11, 2008 (received for review August 25, 2008)

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Fig. 1.
Physiological traits versus the proportion of leaf nitrogen in photosynthesis (N_P/N_L). (A) Photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE) against N_P/N_L (P < 0.001, r = 0.798). (B) Light-saturated photosynthetic rate (P_max) against N_P/N_L (P = 0.002, r = 0.729). Mean values (n = 5) are given for populations of Ageratina adenophora originating from invasive (China, closed circles and India, closed triangles) and native (Mexico, open circles) ranges.
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Fig. 2.
The proportion of leaf nitrogen in photosynthesis (N_P/N_L) versus measures of cell wall proteins. (A) N_P/N_L against cell wall protein content (P_CW; P < 0.020, r = −0.593). (B) N_P/N_L against the ratio of cell wall proteins to total leaf proteins (P_CW/P_L; P < 0.014, r = −0.617). (C) N_P/N_L against the proportion of leaf nitrogen in cell walls (N_CW/N_L; P < 0.013, r = −0.624). Mean values (n = 5) are given for populations of Ageratina adenophora originating from invasive (China, closed circles and India, closed triangles) and native (Mexico, open circles) ranges.
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Fig. 3.
Nitrogen allocation to photosynthesis and cell walls versus leaf mass per area (LMA). (A) The proportion of leaf nitrogen in photosynthesis (N_P/N_L) against LMA (P < 0.020, r = −0.593). (B) Cell wall protein content (P_CW) against LMA (P < 0.014, r = 0.616). (C) The ratio of cell wall proteins to total leaf proteins (P_CW/P_L) against LMA (P < 0.004, r = 0.698). (D) The proportion of leaf nitrogen in cell walls (N_CW/N_L) against LMA (P = 0.001, r = 0.744). Mean values (n = 5) are given for populations of Ageratina adenophora originating from invasive (China, closed circles and India, closed triangles) and native (Mexico, open circles) ranges.

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Table 1.

Differences among populations of Ageratina adenophora originating from invasive (China and India) and native (Mexico) ranges

Variable	Population origin			F
Variable	Mexico	China	India	F
N_P/N_L, g·g⁻¹	0.57 ± 0.029b	0.63 ± 0.016a	0.65 ± 0.021a	3.58^*
P_max, μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹	12.72 ± 0.769c	14.91 ± 0.51b	16.63 ± 0.74a	8.74^***
PNUE, μmol·g⁻¹·s⁻¹	10.39 ± 0.71b	12.05 ± 0.47a	13.01 ± 0.55a	5.04^**
N_L, g·m⁻²	1.25 ± 0.04	1.26 ± 0.04	1.31 ± 0.05	0.58
P_CW, g·m⁻²	0.69 ± 0.045a	0.23 ± 0.035b	0.54 ± 0.083b	16.75^***
P_CW/P_L, g·g⁻¹	0.124 ± 0.010a	0.065 ± 0.008b	0.089 ± 0.008b	10.80^**
N_CW/N_L, g·g⁻¹	0.093 ± 0.006a	0.035 ± 0.007c	0.064 ± 0.008b	18.56^***
LMA, g·m⁻²	61.54 ± 2.11a	50.85 ± 1.11b	53.32 ± 1.34b	13.27^***
Plant height, cm	69.48 ± 1.03b	79.18 ± 1.17a	81.10 ± 1.29a	30.851^***
Stem diameter, mm	5.75 ± 0.12b	6.45 ± 0.12a	6.09 ± .016ab	6.26^**
Leaf density, kg·m⁻³	36.55 ± 0.78a	25.68 ± 0.85c	31.08 ± 1.00b	40.98^***
Leaf length, cm	6.18 ± 0.16c	8.00 ± 0.10a	6.85 ± 0.14b	40.302^***
Leaf width, cm	3.95 ± 0.10c	5.07 ± 0.10a	4.28 ± 0.09b	36.002^***
Leaf area, cm²	12.92 ± 0.55c	20.29 ± 0.60a	15.08 ± 0.53b	45.302^***

Country mean value ± SE is given [five populations per country and five (10 for height and diameter) individuals per population]. Different letters in the same row indicate significant differences among countries (one-way ANOVA, Duncan test).
↵*, P ≤ 0.05;
↵**, P ≤ 0.01;
↵***, P ≤ 0.001.
N_P/N_L, the proportion of leaf nitrogen allocated to the photosynthetic machinery; P_max, light-saturated photosynthetic rate; PNUE, photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency; N_L, leaf nitrogen content; P_CW, cell wall protein content; P_CW/P_L, the ratio of cell wall proteins to total leaf proteins; N_CW/N_L, the proportion of leaf nitrogen allocated to cell walls; LMA, leaf mass per area.