Title |
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in an overwintering population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in California
|
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Published in |
Journal of Chemical Ecology, May 1990
|
DOI | 10.1007/bf01014081 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
M. E. Stelljes, J. N. Seiber |
Abstract |
California overwintering monarch butterflies contain both pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and theirN-oxides. Analysis of 76 individual monarchs by TLC, HPLC, GLC, and GC-MS has shown the presence of three types of PAs, the saturated diester sarracine, the saturated monoester 7-angelylplatynecine, and the unsaturated dialcohol retronecine. Monarchs arriving at the overwintering site in Santa Cruz, California, showed a wide variation in both the type and amount of PA present. Those sampled after a PA-containing plant (Senecio mikanioides) had bloomed at the site showed an altered PA profile. While the plant was found to contain sarracine and 7-angelylplatynecine, which are nontoxic to mammals, the monarchs showed an increase in retronecine levels, a toxic PA, after the plant bloom. Apparently monarchs utilize PA-containing plants both en route to their overwintering site and at the site, and potentially alter those PAs to forms toxic to mammals. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 7 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Other | 2 | 29% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 1 | 14% |
Student > Bachelor | 1 | 14% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 1 | 14% |
Unknown | 2 | 29% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 3 | 43% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 1 | 14% |
Unknown | 3 | 43% |