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Mebs D, Wunder C, Toennes SW. Poor sequestration of toxic host plant cardenolides and their rapid loss in the milkweed butterfly Danaus chrysippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Danainae: Danaini). Toxicon 2017; 131:1-5. [PMID: 28284846 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2016] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Butterflies of the genus Danaus are known to sequester toxic cardenolides from milkweed host plants (Apocynaceae). In particular, Danaus plexippus efficiently sequesters and stores these compounds, whereas D. chrysippus, is considered to poorly sequester cardenolides. To estimate its sequestration capability compared with that of D. plexippus, larvae of both species were jointly reared on Asclepias curassavica and the major cardenolides of the host plant, calotropin and calactin, were analyzed in adults sampled at different time intervals after eclosion. Both cardenolides were detected in body and wings of D. plexippus. Whereas the calotropin-concentration remained constant over a period of 24 days, that of calactin steadily decreased. In the body, but not in the wings of D. chrysippus, calactin only was detected in low amounts, which was then almost completely lost during the following 8 days after eclosion, suggesting that in contrast to D. plexippus, cardenolides seem to be less important for that butterfly's defence against predators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dietrich Mebs
- Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, D-60596, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Cora Wunder
- Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, D-60596, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Stefan W Toennes
- Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, D-60596, Frankfurt, Germany
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Huheey JE. BATESIAN AND MÜLLERIAN MIMICRY: SEMANTIC AND SUBSTANTIVE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. Evolution 2017; 34:1212-1215. [PMID: 28568472 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1980.tb04068.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/1979] [Revised: 04/16/1980] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- James E Huheey
- Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742
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Petschenka G, Agrawal AA. Milkweed butterfly resistance to plant toxins is linked to sequestration, not coping with a toxic diet. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:20151865. [PMID: 26538594 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.1865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Insect resistance to plant toxins is widely assumed to have evolved in response to using defended plants as a dietary resource. We tested this hypothesis in the milkweed butterflies (Danaini) which have progressively evolved higher levels of resistance to cardenolide toxins based on amino acid substitutions of their cellular sodium-potassium pump (Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase). Using chemical, physiological and caterpillar growth assays on diverse milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) and isolated cardenolides, we show that resistant Na(+)/K(+)-ATPases are not necessary to cope with dietary cardenolides. By contrast, sequestration of cardenolides in the body (as a defence against predators) is associated with the three levels of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase resistance. To estimate the potential physiological burden of cardenolide sequestration without Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase adaptations, we applied haemolymph of sequestering species on isolated Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase of sequestering and non-sequestering species. Haemolymph cardenolides dramatically impair non-adapted Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, but had systematically reduced effects on Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase of sequestering species. Our data indicate that major adaptations to plant toxins may be evolutionarily linked to sequestration, and may not necessarily be a means to eat toxic plants. Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase adaptations thus were a potential mechanism through which predators spurred the coevolutionary arms race between plants and insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Petschenka
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Anurag A Agrawal
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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Aardema ML, Zhen Y, Andolfatto P. The evolution of cardenolide-resistant forms of Na⁺,K⁺ -ATPase in Danainae butterflies. Mol Ecol 2011; 21:340-9. [PMID: 22126595 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05379.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Cardenolides are a class of plant secondary compounds that inhibit the proper functioning of the Na(+) , K(+) -ATPase enzyme in susceptible animals. Nonetheless, many insect species are able to sequester cardenolides for their own defence. These include butterflies in the subfamily Danainae (Family: Nymphalidae) such as the monarch (Danaus plexippus). Previous studies demonstrated that monarchs harbour an asparagine (N) to histidine (H) substitution (N122H) in the α subunit of Na(+) , K(+) -ATPase (ATPα) that reduces this enzyme's sensitivity to cardenolides. More recently, it has been suggested that at ATPα position 111, monarchs may also harbour a leucine (L)/glutamine (Q) polymorphism. This later amino acid could also contribute to cardenolide insensitivity. However, here we find that incorrect annotation of the initially reported DNA sequence for ATPα has led to several erroneous conclusions. Using a population genetic and phylogenetic analysis of monarchs and their close relatives, we show that an ancient Q111L substitution occurred prior to the radiation of all Danainae, followed by a second substitution at the same site to valine (V), which arose before the diversification of the Danaus genus. In contrast, N122H appears to be a recent substitution specific to monarchs. Surprisingly, examination of a broader insect phylogeny reveals that the same progression of amino acid substitutions (Q111L → L111V + N122H) has also occurred in Chyrsochus beetles (Family: Chrysomelidae, Subfamily: Eumolpinae) that feed on cardenolide-containing host plants. The parallel pattern of amino acid substitution in these two distantly related lineages is consistent with an adaptive role for these substitutions in reducing cardenolide sensitivity and suggests that their temporal order may be limited by epistatic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew L Aardema
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
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GORDON IANJ, EDMUNDS MALCOLM, EDGAR JOHNA, LAWRENCE JAMES, SMITH DAVIDAS. Linkage disequilibrium and natural selection for mimicry in the Batesian mimic Hypolimnas misippus (L.) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Afrotropics. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01412.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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GORDON IJ. Natural selection for rare and mimetic colour pattern combinations in wild populations of the diadem butterfly, Hypolimnas misippus L. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.1987.tb01977.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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SMITH DAVIDA, OWEN DENISF, GORDON IANJ, LOWIS NINIANK. The butterfly Danaus chrysippus (L.) in East Africa: polymorphism and morph-ratio clines within a complex, extensive and dynamic hybrid zone. Zool J Linn Soc 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1997.tb01272.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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BRAKEFIELD PAULM. Polymorphic Müllerian mimicry and interactions with thermal melanism in ladybirds and a soldier beetle: a hypothesis. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.1985.tb01635.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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LUSHAI GUGS, ALLEN JOHNA, GOULSON DAVE, MACLEAN NORMAN, SMITH DAVIDAS. The butterfly Danaus chrysippus (L.) in East Africa comprises polyphyletic, sympatric lineages that are, despite behavioural isolation, driven to hybridization by female-biased sex ratios. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2005. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00526.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Mebs D, Reuss E, Schneider M. Studies on the cardenolide sequestration in African milkweed butterflies (Danaidae). Toxicon 2005; 45:581-4. [PMID: 15777953 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2004] [Accepted: 12/21/2004] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Butterflies of the Danaidae family are considered to be toxic or distasteful due to the presence of cardiac glycosides sequestered from their larval food plants. Alcoholic extracts of specimens of Danaus chrysippus aegyptius and Amauris ochlea ochlea from southern Africa (Namibia, S.-Africa, Mozambique) were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography for these cardenolides. But only 4 of 75 specimens of D. chrysippus aegyptius contained trace amounts, all others including 13 specimens of A. ochlea ochlea were negative. Genetic analysis of the ouabain binding site of the Na(+), K(+)-ATPase revealed that both species do not present an amino acid replacement at the position 122, which otherwise makes the enzyme insensitive to cardenolides suggesting that other strategies of toxin tolerance must have been developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dietrich Mebs
- Zentrum der Rechtsmedizin, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, D-60596 Frankfurt, Germany.
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Lushai G, Smith DAS, Gordon IJ, Goulson D, Allen JA, Maclean N. Incomplete sexual isolation in sympatry between subspecies of the butterfly Danaus chrysippus (L.) and the creation of a hybrid zone. Heredity (Edinb) 2003; 90:236-46. [PMID: 12634807 DOI: 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Subspecies chrysippus, dorippus and alcippus of the butterfly Danaus chrysippus differ at three biallelic colour gene loci. They have partially vicariant distributions, but their ranges overlap over a substantial part of central and East Africa, where hybridism is commonplace. We now report that the West African subspecies alcippus differs from other subspecies, not only in nuclear genotype but also in mitochondrial haplotype in both allopatry and sympatry. The maintenance of concordant nuclear and cytoplasmic genetic differences in sympatry, and in the face of hybridisation, is prima facie evidence for sexual isolation. Other evidence that suggests alcippus may be isolated from chrysippus and dorippus include differences in sex ratio (SR), heterozygote deficiency at one site and deduced differences in patterns of migration. We suggest that, within the hybrid zone, differential infection of subspecies by a male-killing Spiroplasma bacterium causes SR differences that restrict female choice, triggering rounds of heterotypic mating and consequent heterozygote excess that is largely confined to females. The absence of these phenomena from hybrid populations that test negative for Spiroplasma supports the hypothesis. The incomplete sexual isolation and partial vicariance of alcippus suggests that it is a nascent species.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Lushai
- Ecology and Biodiversity Division, School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Bassett Crescent East, Southampton SO16 7PX, UK
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An experimental investigation of the effects of selective predation by birds and parasitoid attack on the butterfly
Danaus chrysippus
(L.). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1997. [DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1984.0021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Danaus chrysippus
is a danaid butterfly commonly found throughout Africa. It feeds, in its larval stage, on species of milkweed (fam. Asclepiadacae). If the milkweed species has a high cardenolide content, then the larva as well as its pupa and the subsequent adult will be toxic to birds. If, however, the larva has fed on a species of milkweed with little or no cardenolide content, then it will be palatable to birds and so will the pupa and the adult. All the three stages (larval, pupa and adult), whether palatable or not, are subject to attack by birds. The larvae, on the other hand, also act as hosts to a large number of parasitoids. In this paper a theoretical model is described which incorporates the following three assumptions that have been verified experimentally: (i) female butterflies prefer to oviposition the species of plants on which they had developed; (ii) birds are able to distinguish between externally identical larvae from the shape of the plant on which the larvae are feeding; (iii) female parasitoids select, for oviposition,
D. chrysippus
larvae feeding on plants toxic to vertebrate predators. The simulations using the theoretical model predicts that parasitoids will prefer to lay their eggs in toxic larvae that are less likely to be predated by birds. This predation makes it advantageous for larvae to feed on non-toxic plants. This larval advantage is countered at the adult stage by bird predation. As one type of butterfly becomes too common, the other type will be at an advantage. The polymorphism for palatability is maintained primarily through selection at the larval stage and not by bird predation on the adult butterflies. The experimental data supporting the above assumptions are discussed. Computer simulation predicts the behaviour of birds and parasitoids as it affects the relative frequency of toxic and non-toxic butterflies.
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Trigo JR, Brown KS. Variation of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Ithomiinae: A comparative study between species feeding on Apocynaceae and Solanaceae. CHEMOECOLOGY 1990. [DOI: 10.1007/bf01240582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Cyanogenesis?a general phenomenon in the lepidoptera? J Chem Ecol 1987; 13:1789-809. [DOI: 10.1007/bf01013229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/1986] [Accepted: 10/27/1986] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Differences and similarities in cardenolide contents of queen and monarch butterflies in florida and their ecological and evolutionary implications. J Chem Ecol 1985; 11:85-103. [DOI: 10.1007/bf00987608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/1984] [Revised: 05/21/1984] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Brower LP, Seiber JN, Nelson CJ, Lynch SP, Tuskes PM. Plant-determined variation in the cardenolide content, thin-layer chromatography profiles, and emetic potency of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus reared on the milkweed,Asclepias eriocarpa in California. J Chem Ecol 1982; 8:579-633. [DOI: 10.1007/bf00989631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/1981] [Revised: 07/28/1981] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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