Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Plant-derived secondary metabolites as defensive chemicals in herbivorous insects: a case study in chemical ecology

  • Progress Report
  • Published:
Planta Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1a–d

References

  • Bernays EA, Chapman RF, Hartmann T (2002a) A highly sensitive taste receptor cell for pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the lateral galeal sensillum of a polyphagous caterpillar, Estigmene acrea. J Comp Physiol A 188:715–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bernays EA, Chapman RF, Hartmann T (2002b) A taste receptor neurone dedicated to the perception of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the medial galeal sensillum of two polyphagous arctiid caterpillars. Physiol Entomol 27:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernays EA, Rodrigues D, Chapman RF, Singer MS, Hartmann T (2003) Loss of gustatory responses to pyrrolizidine alkaloids after their extensive ingestion in the polyphagous caterpillar Estigmene acrea. J Exp Biol 206:4487–4496

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dussourd DE, Harvis CA, Meinwald J, Eisner T (1991) Pheromonal advertisement of a nuptial gift by a male moth Utetheisa ornatrix. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:9224–9227

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisner T, Rossini C, Gonzalez A, Iyengar VK, Siegler MVS, Smedley SR (2002) Paternal investment in egg defence. In: Hilker M, Meiners T (eds) Chemoecology of insect eggs and egg deposition. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 91–116

  • Hartmann T (1999) Chemical ecology of pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Planta 207:483–495

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann T, Ober D (2000) Biosynthesis and metabolism of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in plants and specialized insect herbivores. In: Leeper FJ, Vederas JC (eds) Topics in current chemistry: biosynthesis—aromatic polyketides, isoprenoids, alkaloids, vol 209. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 207–244

  • Hartmann T, Theuring C, Schmidt J, Rahier M, Pasteels JM (1999) Biochemical strategy of sequestration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids by adults and larvae of chrysomelid leaf beetles. J Insect Physiol 45:1085–1095

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann T, Theuring C, Witte L, Pasteels JM (2001) Sequestration, metabolism and partial synthesis of tertiary pyrrolizidine alkaloids by the neotropical leaf-beetle Platyphora boucardi. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 31:1041–1056

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann T, Theuring C, Bernays EA (2003a) Are insect-synthesized retronecine esters (creatonotines) the precursors of the male courtship pheromone in the arctiid moth Estigmene acrea? J Chem Ecol 29:2603–2608

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann T, Theuring C, Witte L, Schulz S, Pasteels JM (2003b) Biochemical processing of plant acquired pyrrolizidine alkaloids by the neotropical leaf-beetle Platyphora boucardi. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 33:515–23

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hsiao TH, Pasteels JM (1999) Evolution of host-plant affiliation and chemical defense in Chrysolina–Oreina leaf beetles as revealed by mtDNA phylogenies. In: Cox ML (ed) Advances in Chrysomelidae biology, vol I. Backhuys, Leiden, pp 312–342

  • Iyengar VK, Rossini C, Eisner T (2001) Precopulatory assessment of male quality in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix): hydroxydanaidal is the only criterion of choice. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 49:283–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindigkeit R, Biller A, Buch M, Schiebel HM, Boppré M, Hartmann T (1997) The two faces of pyrrolizidine alkaloids: the role of the tertiary amine and its N-oxide in chemical defense of insects with acquired plant alkaloids. Eur J Biochem 245:626–636

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Naumann C, Hartmann T, Ober D (2002) Evolutionary recruitment of a flavin-dependent monooxygenase for the detoxification of host plant-acquired pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the alkaloid-defended arctiid moth Tyria jacobaeae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:6085–6090

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pasteels JM, Termonia A, Windsor D, Witte L, Theuring C, Hartmann T (2001) Pyrrolizidine alkaloids and pentacyclic triterpene saponins in the defensive secretions of Platyphora leaf beetles. Chemoecology 11:113–120

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Termonia A, Pasteels JM, Windsor DM, Milinkovitch MC (2002) Dual chemical sequestration: a key mechanism in transitions among ecological specialization. Proc R Soc London B 269:1–6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Research in the author’s laboratory was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Fonds der Chemischen Industrie. I thank my collaborators and colleagues in the field of entomology and ecology for fruitful cooperation and stimulating discussions: Liz Bernays, the late Reg Chapman, Mike Singer (Tucson), Jacques Pasteels (Brussels), Martine Rahier (Neuchâtel), and Susanne Dobler, Ingo Narberhaus (Hamburg).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie, Technischen Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstrasse 1, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany

    Thomas Hartmann

Authors
  1. Thomas Hartmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Hartmann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hartmann, T. Plant-derived secondary metabolites as defensive chemicals in herbivorous insects: a case study in chemical ecology. Planta 219, 1–4 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1249-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1249-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation