Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2016 Apr;14:8-11. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2015.11.005. Epub 2015 Dec 12.
Numerous insect herbivores can take up and store plant toxins as self-defense against their own natural enemies. Plant toxin sequestration is tightly linked with tolerance strategies that keep the toxins functional. Specific transporters have been identified that likely allow the herbivore to control the spatiotemporal dynamics of toxin accumulation. Certain herbivores furthermore possess specific enzymes to boost the bioactivity of the sequestered toxins. Ecologists have studied plant toxin sequestration for decades. The recently uncovered molecular mechanisms in combination with transient, non-transgenic systems to manipulate insect gene expression will help to understand the importance of toxin sequestration for food-web dynamics in nature.
许多昆虫食草动物可以摄取和储存植物毒素，以保护自己免受天敌的侵害。植物毒素的隔离与保持毒素功能的耐受策略密切相关。已经确定了特定的转运蛋白，这些转运蛋白可能允许食草动物控制毒素积累的时空动态。某些食草动物还具有特定的酶来提高被隔离毒素的生物活性。生态学家已经研究植物毒素隔离数十年了。最近发现的分子机制结合瞬时、非转基因系统来操纵昆虫基因表达，将有助于理解毒素隔离对自然食物网动态的重要性。
