In order to meet the increasing demands from an exploding human population, sustainable agriculture relies on the availability of crop varieties with high yields and optimal defenses to pests. However, ample work has suggested that domesticated plants could have reduced defenses at the expense of increased biomass or yield, and these potential trade-offs can vary among plant species and genotypes. Herbivory coping mechanisms such as tolerance and resistance can be expressed differently among plant genotypes, with variable relationships and inherent fitness costs. Knowledge of the connection between growth and defense mechanisms in cultivated plants is still limited, especially in tropical crops and is needed to guide theories on plant defenses and crop improvement efforts. Using twenty Sorghum bicolor landraces from the tropics, we evaluated genetic variation in growth and defense measures in response to herbivory from Chilo partellus, a major pest of S. bicolor. Specifically, we tested for trade-offs among tolerance and resistance and their association to growth traits. We found significant genetic differences among landraces in terms of their growth, tolerance, and constitutive resistance to herbivory. There was no apparent trade-off between tolerance and resistance, suggesting that it is possible to enhance both defense strategies in S. bicolor. There were contradictory results in terms of potential growth costs associated with constitutive and induced resistance, and tolerance to C. partellus. Landraces with higher resistance and tolerance had lower biomass, but at the same time had a higher number of stems. Future efforts should be directed at understanding the genetic source of resistance and tolerance, and their inclusion for crop improvement.

为了满足人口爆炸式增长带来的日益增长的需求，可持续农业依赖于高产量和对害虫具有最佳防御能力的作物品种的可用性。然而，大量工作表明，驯化植物可能会以增加生物量或产量为代价降低防御能力，而这些潜在的权衡因植物物种和基因型而异。诸如耐受性和抗性之类的食草性应对机制在植物基因型之间可以有不同的表达，具有可变的关系和固有的适应性成本。关于栽培植物生长和防御机制之间联系的知识仍然有限，特别是在热带作物中，需要指导植物防御和作物改良工作的理论。使用二十高粱双色来自热带地区的地方品种，我们评估了生长和防御措施的遗传变异，以应对来自双色 S. bicolor的主要害虫Chilo partellus 的食草动物。具体来说，我们测试了耐受性和抗性之间的权衡及其与生长性状的关联。我们发现地方品种在生长、耐受性和对食草动物的本构抗性方面存在显着的遗传差异。耐受性和抗性之间没有明显的权衡，这表明在双色链霉菌中增强这两种防御策略是可能的。在与组成性和诱导性抗性相关的潜在生长成本以及对C. partellus 的耐受性方面存在相互矛盾的结果。具有较高抗性和耐受性的地方品种具有较低的生物量，但同时具有较高的茎数。未来的努力应致力于了解抗性和耐受性的遗传来源，并将其纳入作物改良。