Oxidative Stress: A Master Regulator of Plant Trade-Offs?

Abstract

Trade-offs between growth, reproduction, and defence have been documented. Oxidative stress is one of the physiological mechanisms that underlie trade-offs at the cellular and organ levels. The diversity of plant life forms and the complexity of scaling up limit our knowledge of oxidative stress as a universal mediator of life-history trade-offs at the organism level. Joint efforts by plant physiologists and ecologists will undoubtedly provide novel insights into this topic in the near future.