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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Sequestration, Maintenance, and Tissue Distribution of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid N-Oxides in Larvae of Two Oreina Species
    (1999)
    Ehmke, Adelheid
    ;
    ;
    Pasteels, Jacques M.
    ;
    Theuring, Claudine
    ;
    Hartmann, Thomas
    Oreina cacaliae and O. speciosissima are leaf beetles that, as larvae and adults, sequester pyrrolizidine alkaloid N-oxides (PAs) as defensive compounds from their host plants Adenostyles alliariae and Senecio nemorensis. As in most Oreina species, O. speciosissima is also defended by autogenously produced cardenolides (mixed defensive strategy), whereas O. cacaliae does not synthesize cardenolides and is exclusively dependent on host-plant-acquired PAs (host-derived defense). Adults of the two Oreina species were found to have the same PA storage capacity. The larvae, however, differ; larvae of O. speciosissima possess a significantly lower capability to store PAs than O. cacaliae. The ability of Oreina larvae to sequester PAs was studied by using tracer techniques with 14C-labeled senecionine N-oxide. Larvae of the two species efficiently take up [14C]senecionine N-oxide from their food plants and store the alkaloid as N-oxide. In O. cacaliae, there is a slow but continuous loss of labeled senecionine N-oxide. This effect may reflect the equilibrium between continuous PA uptake and excretion, resulting in a time-dependent tracer dilution. No noticeable loss of labeled alkaloid is associated with molting. Senecionine N-oxide is detectable in all tissues. The hemolymph is, with ca. 50–60% of total PAs, the major storage compartment, followed by the integument, with ca 30%. The alkaloid concentration in the hemolymph is approximately sixfold higher than in the solid tissues. The selectivity of PA sequestration in larvae is comparable to PA sequestration in the bodies of adult beetles.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Distribution of autogenous and host-derived chemical defenses in Oreina leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
    (1995)
    Pasteels, Jacques M.
    ;
    Dobler, Susanne
    ;
    ;
    Ehmke, Adelheid
    ;
    Hartmann, Thomas
    ;
    Pasteels, Jacques M.
    ;
    Dobler, Susanne
    ;
    Ehmke, Adelheid
    ;
    Hartmann, Thomas
    The pronotal and elytral defensive secretions of 10 Oreina species were analyzed. Species feeding on Apiaceae, i.e., O. frigida and O. viridis, or on Cardueae (Asteraceae), i.e., O. bidentata, O. coerulea, and O. virgulata, produce species-specific complex mixtures of autogenous cardenolides. O. melanocephala, which feeds on Doronicum clusii (Senecioneae, Asteraceae), devoid of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in its leaves, secretes, at best, traces of cardenolides. Sequestration of host-plant PAs was observed in all the other species when feeding on Senecioneae containing these alkaloids in their leaves. O. cacaliae is the only species that secretes host-derived PA N-oxides and no autogenous cardenolides. Differences were observed in the secretions of specimens collected in various localities, because of local differences in the vegetation. The other species, such as O. elongata, O. intricata, and O. speciosissima, have a mixed defensive strategy and are able both to synthesize de novo cardenolides and to sequester plant PA N-oxides. This allows a great flexibility in defense, especially in O. elongata and O. speciosissima, which feed on both PA and non-PA plants. Populations of these species were found exclusively producing cardenolides, or exclusively sequestering PA N-oxides, or still doing both, depending on the local availability of food-plants. Differences were observed between species in their ability to sequester different plant PA N-oxides and to transform them. Therefore sympatric species demonstrate differences in the composition of their host-derived secretions, also resulting from differences in host-plant preference. Finally, within-population individual differences were observed because of local plant heterogeneity in PAs. To some extent these intrapopulation variations in chemical defense are tempered by mixing diet and by the long-term storage of PA N-oxides in the insect body that are used to refill the defensive glands.