No longer a leap in the dark: the importance of protein as an energy source in amphibians

Brenes-Soto, Andrea; Dierenfeld, Ellen S.; Muñoz-Saravia, Arturo; Janssens, Geert

doi:10.2981/wlb.00551

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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Section: Diet-derived Chemical Defenses Have Evolved Multiple Times I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consuming an alkaloid-rich diet while also acquiring enough lipids and protein for metabolism and reproduction can be challenging. In particular, lipids are important for gamete production and metabolic maintenance in amphibians [10,17], and yet are a limiting resource among arthropod food webs [18]. Chitinous arthropods, such as ants and mites have high levels of insoluble carbohydrates [19], and therefore frequent ingestion is expected to incur a nutritional tradeoff [20].…”

Section: Diet-derived Chemical Defenses Have Evolved Multiple Times I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Poison frog dietary preference depends on prey type and alkaloid load

Moskowitz

D'Agui

O’Connell

2022

Preprint

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The ability to acquire chemical defenses through the diet has evolved across several major taxa, including insects, mollusks, birds and reptiles. Chemically defended organisms may need to balance chemical defense acquisition and nutritional quality of prey items. However, these dietary preferences and potential trade-offs are rarely considered in the framework of diet-derived defenses. Poison frogs (Family Dendrobatidae) acquire defensive alkaloids from their arthropod diet of ants and mites, although their dietary preferences have never been investigated. We conducted prey preference assays with the Dyeing Poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius) to test the hypothesis that alkaloid load and prey traits would influence dietary preferences. We tested size preferences (big vs. small) within each of four prey groups (ants, beetles, flies, and larvae) and found that frogs generally preferred interacting with smaller prey items. Frog taxonomic prey preferences were also tested as we experimentally increased their chemical defense load by feeding frogs decahydroquinoline, an alkaloid compound similar to those naturally found in their diet. Contrary to our expectations, overall preferences did not change during alkaloid consumption, as frogs across groups preferred larvae over other prey. Finally, we assessed the protein and lipid content of prey items and found that small ants have the highest lipid content while large larvae have the highest protein content. Our results suggest that consideration of toxicity and prey nutritional value are important factors in understanding the evolution of acquired chemical defenses and niche partitioning as a whole.

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Section: Diet-derived Chemical Defenses Have Evolved Multiple Times I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diet-derived Chemical Defenses Have Evolved Multiple Times I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Poison frog dietary preference depends on prey type and alkaloid load

Moskowitz

D'Agui

O’Connell

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In Battus philenor butterflies, sequestering defensive chemicals from plants increases survivorship against predation as caterpillars, but at the cost of reduced fat content as adults [ 5 ]. Together, these examples suggest that environmental availability, chemical defense, and nutritional content of prey items are important considerations for predators with diet-derived defenses [ 2 , 3 , 10 ]. However, the interplay between these factors in foraging decisions made by animals that acquire chemical defenses from their diet is poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consuming an alkaloidrich diet while also acquiring enough lipids and protein for metabolism and reproduction can be challenging. In particular, lipids are important for gamete production and metabolic maintenance in amphibians [10,17], and yet are a limiting resource among arthropod food webs [18]. Chitinous arthropods, such as ants and mites have high levels of insoluble carbohydrates [19], and therefore frequent ingestion is expected to incur a nutritional tradeoff [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poison frog dietary preference depends on prey type and alkaloid load

et al. 2022

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The ability to acquire chemical defenses through the diet has evolved across several major taxa. Chemically defended organisms may need to balance chemical defense acquisition and nutritional quality of prey items. However, these dietary preferences and potential trade-offs are rarely considered in the framework of diet-derived defenses. Poison frogs (Family Dendrobatidae) acquire defensive alkaloids from their arthropod diet of ants and mites, although their dietary preferences have never been investigated. We conducted prey preference assays with the Dyeing Poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius) to test the hypothesis that alkaloid load and prey traits influence frog dietary preferences. We tested size preferences (big versus small) within each of four prey groups (ants, beetles, flies, and fly larvae) and found that frogs preferred interacting with smaller prey items of the fly and beetle groups. Frog taxonomic prey preferences were also tested as we experimentally increased their chemical defense load by feeding frogs decahydroquinoline, an alkaloid compound similar to those naturally found in their diet. Contrary to our expectations, overall preferences did not change during alkaloid consumption, as frogs across groups preferred fly larvae over other prey. Finally, we assessed the protein and lipid content of prey items and found that small ants have the highest lipid content while large fly larvae have the highest protein content. Our results suggest that consideration of toxicity and prey nutritional value are important factors in understanding the evolution of acquired chemical defenses and niche partitioning.

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The Role of Feed in Aquatic Laboratory Animal Nutrition and the Potential Impact on Animal Models and Study Reproducibility

2019

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Feed plays a central role in the physiological development of terrestrial and aquatic animals. Historically, the feeding practice of aquatic research species derived from aquaculture, farmed, or ornamental trades. These diets are highly variable, with limited quality control, and have been typically selected to provide the fastest growth or highest fecundity. These variations of quality and composition of diets may affect animal/colony health and can introduce confounding experimental variables into animal-based studies that impact research reproducibility.

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No longer a leap in the dark: the importance of protein as an energy source in amphibians

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 3 publications

References 55 publications

Poison frog dietary preference depends on prey type and alkaloid load

Poison frog dietary preference depends on prey type and alkaloid load

Poison frog dietary preference depends on prey type and alkaloid load

The Role of Feed in Aquatic Laboratory Animal Nutrition and the Potential Impact on Animal Models and Study Reproducibility

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