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Turning the ‘Mustard Oil Bomb’ into a ‘Cyanide Bomb’: Aromatic Glucosinolate Metabolism in a Specialist Insect Herbivore

Overview of attention for article published in PLOS ONE, April 2012
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82 Mendeley
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Title
Turning the ‘Mustard Oil Bomb’ into a ‘Cyanide Bomb’: Aromatic Glucosinolate Metabolism in a Specialist Insect Herbivore
Published in
PLOS ONE, April 2012
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0035545
Pubmed ID
Authors

Einar J. Stauber, Petrissa Kuczka, Maike van Ohlen, Birgit Vogt, Tim Janowitz, Markus Piotrowski, Till Beuerle, Ute Wittstock

Abstract

Plants have evolved a variety of mechanisms for dealing with insect herbivory among which chemical defense through secondary metabolites plays a prominent role. Physiological, behavioural and sensorical adaptations to these chemicals provide herbivores with selective advantages allowing them to diversify within the newly occupied ecological niche. In turn, this may influence the evolution of plant metabolism giving rise to e.g. new chemical defenses. The association of Pierid butterflies and plants of the Brassicales has been cited as an illustrative example of this adaptive process known as 'coevolutionary armsrace'. All plants of the Brassicales are defended by the glucosinolate-myrosinase system to which larvae of cabbage white butterflies and related species are biochemically adapted through a gut nitrile-specifier protein. Here, we provide evidence by metabolite profiling and enzyme assays that metabolism of benzylglucosinolate in Pieris rapae results in release of equimolar amounts of cyanide, a potent inhibitor of cellular respiration. We further demonstrate that P. rapae larvae develop on transgenic Arabidopsis plants with ectopic production of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin without ill effects. Metabolite analyses and fumigation experiments indicate that cyanide is detoxified by β-cyanoalanine synthase and rhodanese in the larvae. Based on these results as well as on the facts that benzylglucosinolate was one of the predominant glucosinolates in ancient Brassicales and that ancient Brassicales lack nitrilases involved in alternative pathways, we propose that the ability of Pierid species to safely handle cyanide contributed to the primary host shift from Fabales to Brassicales that occured about 75 million years ago and was followed by Pierid species diversification.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 82 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Portugal 1 1%
Germany 1 1%
Malaysia 1 1%
Mexico 1 1%
Denmark 1 1%
United States 1 1%
Unknown 76 93%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 24 29%
Student > Ph. D. Student 17 21%
Student > Bachelor 10 12%
Student > Master 8 10%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 6%
Other 10 12%
Unknown 8 10%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 43 52%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 11 13%
Chemistry 10 12%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 3 4%
Environmental Science 3 4%
Other 3 4%
Unknown 9 11%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. 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 22 April 2012.
All research outputs
#13,360,809
of 22,664,644 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#106,358
of 193,509 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#89,714
of 161,584 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#1,890
of 3,707 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,664,644 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 193,509 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.0. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% 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 161,584 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 3,707 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 46th percentile – i.e., 46% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.