Nightshade Wound Secretion: The World's Simplest Extrafloral Nectar?

Abstract

Wounded nightshade leaves secrete a sugary liquid that, like extrafloral nectar (EFN), attracts ants as defence against herbivores. The secretion of these droplets requires no detectable nectary tissue, showing how little it takes to produce a functioning nectary. Easy de novo formation of extrafloral nectaries explains their 'scattered' phylogenetic distribution.

Keywords: SWEETs; ants; cell-wall invertase; indirect defence; nectar; sucrose.