Composition of alkaloids in different box tree varieties and their uptake by the box tree moth Cydalima perspectalis
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CHEMOECOLOGY
RESEARCH PAPER
Composition of alkaloids in different box tree varieties and their uptake by the box tree moth Cydalima perspectalis Florine L. G. Leuthardt • Gaetan Glauser Bruno Baur
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Received: 13 November 2012 / Accepted: 12 May 2013 Ó Springer Basel 2013
Abstract Larvae of the moth Cydalima perspectalis are specialized on box trees (Buxus spp.). Native to eastern Asia, the moth has been introduced to Europe in 2007 and is nowadays causing severe damage to box trees in private and public gardens, as well as in semi-natural box tree forests. Box trees contain highly toxic triterpenoid alkaloids which may be sequestered by specialized herbivores such as C. perspectalis. We determined the alkaloid composition in leaves of the five most common box tree varieties in Europe belonging to two Buxus species using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) metabolite profiling. We also examined whether larvae and moths of C. perspectalis accumulate alkaloids from the different box tree varieties. The differences in alkaloid composition observed between the box tree species Buxus sempervirens and Buxus microphylla were mirrored in the tissue of C. perspectalis larvae fed on either of the different box tree species, indicating uptake of alkaloids. The larvae stored large amounts of dibasic alkaloids in their body, while monobasic alkaloids were metabolized and/or excreted. Newly emerged adult moths contained no traces of alkaloids.
F. L. G. Leuthardt, G. Glauser and B. Baur contributed equally to this work. F. L. G. Leuthardt (&) B. Baur Section of Conservation Biology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] G. Glauser Chemical Analytical Service of the Swiss Plant Science Web, University of Neuchaˆtel, Neuchaˆtel, Switzerland
Keywords Buxus Lepidoptera Chemical defence Triterpenoid alkaloids Plant–insect interactions UHPLC–QTOFMS
Introduction Many secondary plant metabolites are produced by plants as toxins that deter herbivores, but they may also have an important effect on the next trophic level, i.e. on predators and parasitoids of herbivores (Schaffner et al. 1994). Sequestration of these chemical compounds occurs in a wide array of herbivores (Rothschild 1972; Blum 1981; Bernays and Graham 1988; Rowell-Rahier and Pasteels 1992; Opitz and Mu¨ller 2009). Alkaloids are a particularly important class of plant toxins occurring in many different plant taxa (Hegnauer 1988) and are well suited for sequestration by insect herbivores for their own defence against predators due to their high level of deterrence (Rothschild et al. 1979; Blum et al. 1981; Gfeller et al. 1995). In this study, we investigated whether the invasive box tree moth Cydalima perspectalis takes up alkaloids occurring in its host plant. Cydalima perspectalis (Walker 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) (formerly Diaphania or Glyphodes perspectalis, see Mally and Nuss 2010) is a new alien species in Europe, causing severe damage to box trees (Buxus spp.
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