| Title |
Dietary Alkaloid Sequestration in a Poison Frog: An Experimental Test of Alkaloid Uptake in Melanophryniscus stelzneri (Bufonidae)
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Chemical Ecology, November 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10886-013-0361-5 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Maggie M. Hantak, Taran Grant, Sherri Reinsch, Dale Mcginnity, Marjorie Loring, Naoki Toyooka, Ralph A. Saporito |
| Abstract |
Several lineages of brightly colored anurans independently evolved the ability to secrete alkaloid-containing defensive chemicals from granular glands in the skin. These species, collectively referred to as 'poison frogs,' form a polyphyletic assemblage that includes some species of Dendrobatidae, Mantellidae, Myobatrachidae, Bufonidae, and Eleutherodactylidae. The ability to sequester alkaloids from dietary arthropods has been demonstrated experimentally in most poison frog lineages but not in bufonid or eleutherodactylid poison frogs. As with other poison frogs, species of the genus Melanophryniscus (Bufonidae) consume large numbers of mites and ants, suggesting they might also sequester defensive alkaloids from dietary sources. To test this hypothesis, fruit flies dusted with alkaloid/nutritional supplement powder were fed to individual Melanophryniscus stelzneri in two experiments. In the first experiment, the alkaloids 5,8-disubstituted indolizidine 235B' and decahydroquinoline were administered to three individuals for 104 days. In the second experiment, the alkaloids 3,5-disubstituted indolizidine 239Q and decahydroquinoline were given to three frogs for 153 days. Control frogs were fed fruit flies dusted only with nutritional supplement. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses revealed that skin secretions of all experimental frogs contained alkaloids, whereas those of all control frogs lacked alkaloids. Uptake of decahydroquinoline was greater than uptake of 5,8-disubstituted indolizidine, and uptake of 3,5-disubstituted indolizidine was greater than uptake of decahydroquinoline, suggesting greater uptake efficiency of certain alkaloids. Frogs in the second experiment accumulated a greater amount of alkaloid, which corresponds to the longer duration and greater number of alkaloid-dusted fruit flies that were consumed. These findings provide the first experimental evidence that bufonid poison frogs sequester alkaloid-based defenses from dietary sources. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 122 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 4 | 3% |
| Colombia | 1 | <1% |
| Costa Rica | 1 | <1% |
| Mexico | 1 | <1% |
| Denmark | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 113 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 21 | 17% |
| Student > Bachelor | 21 | 17% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 17 | 14% |
| Researcher | 16 | 13% |
| Professor | 7 | 6% |
| Other | 22 | 18% |
| Unknown | 18 | 15% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 65 | 53% |
| Environmental Science | 8 | 7% |
| Chemistry | 6 | 5% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 5 | 4% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 2 | 2% |
| Other | 8 | 7% |
| Unknown | 28 | 23% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 July 2022.
All research outputs
#7,753,975
of 23,577,654 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#640
of 2,065 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#72,819
of 217,432 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#3
of 6 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,577,654 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 44th percentile – i.e., 44% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,065 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.1. This one is in the 29th percentile – i.e., 29% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 217,432 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 6 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 3 of them.