Allelic differences of clustered terpene synthases contribute to correlated intra-specific variation of floral and herbivory-induced volatiles in a wild tobacco

This dataset contains raw data from a manuscript entitled: Allelic differences of clustered terpene synthases contribute to correlated intra-specific variation of floral and herbivory-induced volatiles in a wild tobacco by Xu et al.In this study, we characterized intra-specific variation of herbivory-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs), the key components of indirect defence against herbivores, and floral volatiles in the wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata. We found that variation of (E)-β-ocimene and (E)-α-bergamotene contributed to the correlated changes in HIPVs and floral volatiles among N. attenuata natural accessions. Intra-specific variations of (E)-α-bergamotene and of (E)-β-ocimene emission resulted from allelic variation of two genetically co-localized terpene synthase genes, NaTPS38 and NaTPS25, respectively. Analyzing haplotypes of NaTPS38 and NaTPS25 revealed that allelic variations of NaTPS25 and NaTPS38 resulted in correlated changes of (E)-β-ocimene and (E)-α-bergamotene emission in HIPVs and floral volatiles in N. attenuata. Together, these results provide evidence that pleiotropy and genetic linkage can result in correlated changes in floral signals and defences in natural populations.