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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Sequestration of ingested [14C]senecionine N-oxide in the exocrine defensive secretions of chrysomelid beetles
    (1991)
    Ehmke, Adelheid
    ;
    ;
    Pasteels, Jacques M.
    ;
    Hartmann, Thomas
    Oreina cacaliae (Chrysomelidae) sequesters in its elytral and pronotal defensive secretion the N-oxides of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA N-oxides) from its food plant Adenostyles alliariae (Asteraceae). [14C]Senecionine N-oxide was applied for detailed studies of PA N-oxide sequestration. An average of 11.4% of total radioactivity is taken up by individual beetles which had received [14C]senecionine N-oxide with their food leaves 8 days before. An average of 28.9% of the ingested radioactivity could be recovered from the defensive secretions collected twice, i.e., 5 and 8 days after tracer feeding. The tracer transfer into the secretion seems to be a slow but progressive process as indicated by the high percentage of tracer still recovered from the secretion sampled after 8 days. Chromatographic analysis revealed that [14C]senecionine N-oxide is the only labeled compound in the defensive secretion. Beetles that fed on tertiary [14C]senecionine sequestered only trace amounts of radioactivity (exclusively present as labeled IV-oxide) in their secretions. O. speciosissima, a species also adapted to PA containing food plants, was shown to sequester [14C]senecionine N-oxide with the same efficiency as O. cacaliae. O. bifrons, a specialist feeding on Chaerophyllum hirsutum (Apiaceae), rejected PA treated leaf samples already at very low PA concentrations (10 nmol/leaf piece). In both O. cacaliae and O. speciosissima, [14C]senecionine N-oxide applied by injection into the hemolymph is rapidly transferred into the glands. O. bifrons, not adapted to pyrrolizidine alkaloid containing plants was unable to sequester [14C]-senecionineN- oxide in the secretion but rapidly eliminated the tracer with the frass. Again, only traces of labeled [14C]senecionine N-oxide were found in the defensive secretions of the two PA adapted species if labeled senecionine was injected. It is suggested that the beetles are adapted to the N-oxide form of PAs, similarly as their food plants, and that they lack the ability to efficiently N-oxidize tertiary PAs. No indication forde novo PA synthesis by the beetles was found in tracer feeding experiments with the biogenetic PA precursor putrescine.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Sequestration of plant pyrrolizidine alkaloids by chrysomelid beetles and selective transfer into the defensive secretions
    (1991) ;
    Witte, Ludger
    ;
    Ehmke, Adelheid
    ;
    Hartmann, Thomas
    ;
    Pasteels, Jacques M.
    Oreina cacaliae and O. speciosissima (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) sequester in their elytral and pronotal defensive secretions pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) as Noxides (PA N-oxides). The PA N-oxide patterns found in the beetles and their host plants were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Of the three host plants Adenostyles alliariae (Asteraceae) is the exclusive source for PA N-oxide sequestration in the defensive secretions of the beetles. With the exception of O-acetylseneciphylline the N-oxides of all PAs of A. alliariae, i.e. senecionine, seneciphylline, spartioidine, integerrimine, platyphylline and neoplatyphylline were identified in the secretion. PA N-oxides typical of Senecio fuchsii (Asteraceae) were detected in the bodies of the beetles but not in their secretion. No PAs were found in the leaves of the third host plant, Petasites paradoxus (Asteraceae). The results suggest the existence of two distinctive storage compartments for PA N-oxides in the beetle: (1) the defensive secretion, containing specifically PA N-oxides acquired from A. alliariae; (2) the body of the beetle, sequestering additionally but less selectively PA N-oxides from other sources, e.g. S. fuchsii or monocrotaline N-oxide fed in the laboratory. The concentration of PA N-oxides in the defensive secretion is in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 mol/1, which is more than 2.5 orders of magnitude higher than that found in the body of the beetle. No significant differences exist in the ability of the two species of beetles to sequester PA N-oxides from A. alliariae, although O. speciosissima, but not O. cacaliae, produces autogenous cardenolides. A negative correlation seems to exist between the concentrations of plant-derived PA N-oxides andde novo synthesized cardenolides in the defensive secretion of O. speciosissima.