Same host-plant, different sterols: variation in sterol metabolism in an insect herbivore community.

Journal of Chemical Ecology
Eric M JansonPatrick Abbot

Abstract

Insects lack the ability to synthesize sterols de novo, which are required as cell membrane inserts and as precursors for steroid hormones. Herbivorous insects typically utilize cholesterol as their primary sterol. However, plants rarely contain cholesterol, and herbivorous insects must, therefore, produce cholesterol by metabolizing plant sterols. Previous studies have shown that insects generally display diversity in phytosterol metabolism. Despite the biological importance of sterols, there has been no investigation of their metabolism in a naturally occurring herbivorous insect community. Therefore, we determined the neutral sterol profile of Solidago altissima L., six taxonomically and ecologically diverse herbivorous insect associates, and the fungal symbiont of one herbivore. Our results demonstrated that S. altissima contained Delta(7)-sterols (spinasterol, 22-dihydrospinasterol, avenasterol, and 24-epifungisterol), and that 85% of the sterol pool existed in a conjugated form. Despite feeding on a shared host plant, we observed significant variation among herbivores in terms of their qualitative tissue sterol profiles and significant variation in the cholesterol content. Cholesterol was absent in two dipteran gall-forme...Continue Reading

References

Jun 1, 1995·Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology·M F FeldlauferJ A Svoboda
Aug 31, 1999·Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology·S T BehmerR J Grebenok
Apr 12, 2003·Progress in Lipid Research·Hubert Schaller
Jun 10, 2004·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·Zuzana Swigonová, Karl M Kjer
Dec 22, 2004·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Arthur R Zangerl, May R Berenbaum
May 10, 2007·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Koichiro TamuraSudhir Kumar
Nov 23, 2007·Annual Review of Plant Biology·Gregg A Howe, Georg Jander
Feb 27, 2008·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Eric M JansonPatrick Abbot
Apr 1, 2008·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·Jose L Panero, V A Funk
Jul 1, 1995·Journal of Chemical Ecology·M R Berenbaum

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Citations

Feb 8, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Jeffrey B Joy
Jan 28, 2014·PloS One·Sophie BouvaineAngela E Douglas
Aug 11, 2012·Journal of Insect Physiology·Sophie BouvaineAngela E Douglas
Aug 14, 2012·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·J O StiremanP Abbot
Aug 21, 2013·Molecular Ecology·Allison K Hansen, Nancy A Moran
Sep 3, 2013·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·Simon DellicourDenis Michez
Feb 22, 2017·Scientific Reports·Maryse VanderplanckDenis Michez
Sep 16, 2010·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·E M JansonP Abbot
Oct 11, 2019·Annual Review of Entomology·Xiangfeng Jing, Spencer T Behmer
Mar 7, 2021·Metabolites·Marília Elias Gallon, Leonardo Gobbo-Neto

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