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Christensen T, Dyer LA, Forister ML, Bowers MD, Carper A, Teglas MB, Hurtado P, Smilanich AM. Host plant-mediation of viral transmission and its consequences for a native butterfly. Ecology 2024; 105:e4282. [PMID: 38483138 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Revised: 11/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Pathogens play a key role in insect population dynamics, contributing to short-term fluctuations in abundance as well as long-term demographic trends. Two key factors that influence the effects of entomopathogens on herbivorous insect populations are modes of pathogen transmission and larval host plants. In this study, we examined tritrophic interactions between a sequestering specialist lepidopteran, Euphydryas phaeton, and a viral pathogen, Junonia coenia densovirus, on its native host plant, Chelone glabra, and a novel host plant, Plantago lanceolata, to explore whether host plant mediates viral transmission, survival, and viral loads. A two-factor factorial experiment was conducted in the laboratory with natal larval clusters randomly assigned to either the native or novel host plant and crossed with either uninoculated controls or viral inoculation (20% of individuals in the cluster inoculated). Diapausing clusters were overwintered in the laboratory and checked weekly for mortality. At the end of diapause, all surviving individuals were reared to adulthood to estimate survivorship. All individuals were screened to quantify viral loads, and estimate horizontal transmission postmortem. To test for vertical transmission, adults were mated, and the progeny were screened for viral presence. Within virus-treated groups, we found evidence for both horizontal and vertical transmission. Larval clusters reared on the native host plant had slightly higher horizontal transmission. Survival probability was lower in clusters feeding on the native host plant, with inoculated groups reared on the native host plant experiencing complete mortality. Viral loads did not differ by the host plant, although viral loads decreased with increased sequestration of secondary compounds on both host plants. Our results indicate that the use of a novel host plant may confer fitness benefits in terms of survival and reduced viral transmission when larvae feeding on it are infected with this pathogen, supporting hypotheses of potential evolutionary advantages of a host range expansion in the context of tritrophic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara Christensen
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Lee A Dyer
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Matthew L Forister
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - M Deane Bowers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Adrian Carper
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Mike B Teglas
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
- Department of Agriculture, Veterinary and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Paul Hurtado
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Angela M Smilanich
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
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Jones PL, Petschenka G, Flacht L, Agrawal AA. Cardenolide Intake, Sequestration, and Excretion by the Monarch Butterfly along Gradients of Plant Toxicity and Larval Ontogeny. J Chem Ecol 2019; 45:264-277. [PMID: 30793231 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-019-01055-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2018] [Revised: 12/24/2018] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, migrate long distances over which they encounter host plants that vary broadly in toxic cardenolides. Remarkably little is understood about the mechanisms of sequestration in Lepidoptera that lay eggs on host plants ranging in such toxins. Using closely-related milkweed host plants that differ more than ten-fold in cardenolide concentrations, we mechanistically address the intake, sequestration, and excretion of cardenolides by monarchs. We show that on high cardenolide plant species, adult butterflies saturate in cardenolides, resulting in lower concentrations than in leaves, while on low cardenolide plants, butterflies concentrate toxins. Butterflies appear to focus their sequestration on particular compounds, as the diversity of cardenolides is highest in plant leaves, lower in frass, and least in adult butterflies. Among the variety of cardenolides produced by the plant, sequestered compounds may be less toxic to the butterflies themselves, as they are more polar on average than those in leaves. In accordance with this, results from an in vitro assay based on inhibition of Na+/K+ ATPase (the physiological target of cardenolides) showed that on two milkweed species, including the high cardenolide A. perennis, extracts from butterflies have lower inhibitory effects than leaves when standardized by cardenolide concentration, indicating selective sequestration of less toxic compounds from these host plants. To understand how ontogeny shapes sequestration, we examined cardenolide concentrations in caterpillar body tissues and hemolymph over the course of development. Caterpillars sequestered higher concentrations of cardenolides as early instars than as late instars, but within the fifth instar, concentration increased with body mass. Although it appears that large amounts of sequestration occurs in early instars, a host switching experiment revealed that caterpillars can compensate for feeding on low cardenolide host plants with substantial sequestration in the fifth instar. We highlight commonalities and striking differences in the mechanisms of sequestration depending on host plant chemistry and developmental stage, which have important implications for monarch defense.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Georg Petschenka
- Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Lara Flacht
- Department for Structural Infection Biology, Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Hamburg, Germany & Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Anurag A Agrawal
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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Habtemariam S. Iridoids and Other Monoterpenes in the Alzheimer's Brain: Recent Development and Future Prospects. Molecules 2018; 23:molecules23010117. [PMID: 29316661 PMCID: PMC6017424 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23010117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2017] [Revised: 01/04/2018] [Accepted: 01/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Iridoids are a class of monoterpenoid compounds constructed from 10-carbon skeleton of isoprene building units. These compounds in their aglycones and glycosylated forms exist in nature to contribute to mechanisms related to plant defenses and diverse plant-animal interactions. Recent studies have also shown that iridoids and other structurally related monoterpenes display a vast array of pharmacological effects that make them potential modulators of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This review critically evaluates the therapeutic potential of these natural products by assessing key in vitro and in vivo data published in the scientific literature. Mechanistic approach of scrutiny addressing their effects in the Alzheimer’s brain including the τ-protein phosphorylation signaling, amyloid beta (Aβ) formation, aggregation, toxicity and clearance along with various effects from antioxidant to antiinflammatory mechanisms are discussed. The drug likeness of these compounds and future prospects to consider in their development as potential leads are addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solomon Habtemariam
- Pharmacognosy Research Laboratories & Herbal Analysis Services, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham-Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK.
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