Dataset Information

Sequestration and biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in passion vine butterflies and consequences for the diversification of their host plants.

ABSTRACT: The colorful heliconiine butterflies are distasteful to predators due to their content of defense compounds called cyanogenic glucosides (CNglcs), which they biosynthesize from aliphatic amino acids. Heliconiine larvae feed exclusively on Passiflora plants where ~30 kinds of CNglcs have been reported. Among them, some CNglcs derived from cyclopentenyl glycine can be sequestered by some Heliconius species. In order to understand the evolution of biosynthesis and sequestration of CNglcs in these butterflies and its consequences for their arms race with Passiflora plants, we analyzed the CNglc distribution in selected heliconiine and Passiflora species. Sequestration of cyclopentenyl CNglcs is not an exclusive trait of Heliconius, since these compounds were present in other heliconiines such as Philaethria, Dryas and Agraulis, and in more distantly related genera Cethosia and Euptoieta. Thus, it is likely that the ability to sequester cyclopentenyl CNglcs arose in an ancestor of the Heliconiinae subfamily. Biosynthesis of aliphatic CNglcs is widespread in these butterflies, although some species from the sara-sapho group seem to have lost this ability. The CNglc distribution within Passiflora suggests that they might have diversified their cyanogenic profile to escape heliconiine herbivory. This systematic analysis improves our understanding on the evolution of cyanogenesis in the heliconiine-Passiflora system.

SUBMITTER: Pinheiro de Castro EC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6509390 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sequestration and biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in passion vine butterflies and consequences for the diversification of their host plants.

Pinheiro de Castro Érika C ÉC Zagrobelny Mika M Zurano Juan Pablo JP Zikan Cardoso Márcio M Feyereisen René R Bak Søren S

Ecology and evolution 20190413 9

The colorful heliconiine butterflies are distasteful to predators due to their content of defense compounds called cyanogenic glucosides (CNglcs), which they biosynthesize from aliphatic amino acids. Heliconiine larvae feed exclusively on <i>Passiflora</i> plants where ~30 kinds of CNglcs have been reported. Among them, some CNglcs derived from cyclopentenyl glycine can be sequestered by some <i>Heliconius</i> species. In order to understand the evolution of biosynthesis and sequestration of CNg ...[more]

PMID: 31110663

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Project description:BACKGROUND: An essential driving component in the co-evolution of plants and insects is the ability to produce and handle bioactive compounds. Plants produce bioactive natural products for defense, but some insects detoxify and/or sequester the compounds, opening up for new niches with fewer competitors. To study the molecular mechanism behind the co-adaption in plant-insect interactions, we have investigated the interactions between Lotus corniculatus and Zygaena filipendulae. They both contain cyanogenic glucosides which liberate toxic hydrogen cyanide upon breakdown. Moths belonging to the Zygaena family are the only insects known, able to carry out both de novo biosynthesis and sequestration of the same cyanogenic glucosides as those from their feed plants. The biosynthetic pathway for cyanogenic glucoside biosynthesis in Z. filipendulae proceeds using the same intermediates as in the well known pathway from plants, but none of the enzymes responsible have been identified. A genomics strategy founded on 454 pyrosequencing of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome was undertaken to identify some of these enzymes in Z. filipendulae. RESULTS: Comparisons of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome with the sequenced genomes of Bombyx mori, Drosophila melanogaster, Tribolium castaneum, Apis mellifera and Anopheles gambiae indicate a high coverage of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome. 11% of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome sequences were assigned to Gene Ontology categories. Candidate genes for enzymes functioning in the biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides (cytochrome P450 and family 1 glycosyltransferases) were identified based on sequence length, number of copies and presence/absence of close homologs in D. melanogaster, B. mori and the cyanogenic butterfly Heliconius. Examination of biased codon usage, GC content and selection on gene candidates support the notion of cyanogenesis as an "old" trait within Ditrysia, as well as its origins being convergent between plants and insects. CONCLUSION: Pyrosequencing is an attractive approach to gain access to genes in the biosynthesis of bio-active natural products from insects and other organisms, for which the genome sequence is not known. Based on analysis of the Z. filipendulae transcriptome, promising gene candidates for biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides was identified, and the suitability of Z. filipendulae as a model system for cyanogenesis in insects is evident.

Dataset Information

Sequestration and biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in passion vine butterflies and consequences for the diversification of their host plants.

Publications

Sequestration and biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in passion vine butterflies and consequences for the diversification of their host plants.

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