Cardenolide Intake, Sequestration, and Excretion by the Monarch Butterfly along Gradients of Plant Toxicity and Larval Ontogeny

Journal of Chemical Ecology
Patricia L JonesAnurag A Agrawal

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 c...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 4, 2020·Scientific Reports·Paola Olaya-ArenasIan Kaplan
Apr 15, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Anurag A AgrawalChristophe Duplais
Jul 15, 2021·Ecology and Evolution·Abigail S Potts, Mark D Hunter
Nov 6, 2021·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Adrian L CarperM Deane Bowers

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Software Mentioned

lme4
lsmeans
nlme R package
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