Fine-tuning the ‘plant domestication-reduced defense’ hypothesis: specialist vs generalist herbivores

What is it about?

Crops have been selected for taste and nutritional value, as well as for high yield. It is generally assumed that selection for these traits has reduced the ability of crops to defend themselves against insects. By comparing cultivated and wild maize lines we show for eight different insects that they indeed perform better on cultivated maize than on wild maize, but this is much less evident for specialized than for generalist insects. We propose that selection by farmers and breeders has maintained resistance against specialized pests, but that maize and other crops have mainly become more vulnerable to generalist pest.

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