Abstract
Secondary metabolites are important in plant defence against pests and diseases. Similarly, insects can use plant secondary metabolites in defence and, in some cases, synthesize their own products. The paper describes how two specialist brassica feeders, Brevicoryne brassicae (cabbage aphid) and Lipaphis erysimi (turnip aphid) can sequester glucosinolates (thioglucosides) from their host plants, yet avoid the generation of toxic degradation products by compartmentalizing myrosinase (thioglucosidase) into crystalline microbodies. We propose that death, or damage, to the insect by predators or disease causes disruption of compartmentalized myrosinase, which results in the release of isothiocyanate that acts as a synergist for the alarm pheromone E-beta-farnesene.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (3.7 MB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Engler H. S., Spencer K. C., Gilbert L. E. Preventing cyanide release from leaves. Nature. 2000 Jul 13;406(6792):144–145. doi: 10.1038/35018159. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jones A. M., Bridges M., Bones A. M., Cole R., Rossiter J. T. Purification and characterisation of a non-plant myrosinase from the cabbage aphid Brevicoryne brassicae (L.). Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2001 Jan;31(1):1–5. doi: 10.1016/s0965-1748(00)00157-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kelly P. J., Bones A., Rossiter J. T. Sub-cellular immunolocalization of the glucosinolate sinigrin in seedlings of Brassica juncea. Planta. 1998 Oct;206(3):370–377. doi: 10.1007/s004250050412. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Koroleva O. A., Davies A., Deeken R., Thorpe M. R., Tomos A. D., Hedrich R. Identification of a new glucosinolate-rich cell type in Arabidopsis flower stalk. Plant Physiol. 2000 Oct;124(2):599–608. doi: 10.1104/pp.124.2.599. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]