The Green Gut: Chlorophyll Degradation in the Gut of Spodoptera littoralis

Badgaa, Amarsanaa; Büchler, Rita; Wielsch, Natalie; Walde, Marie; Heintzmann, Rainer; Pauchet, Yannik; Svatoš, Aleš; Ploss, Kerstin; Boland, Wilhelm

doi:10.1007/s10886-015-0636-0

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Here we argue that Chl breakdown stops in insect gut due to the lack of oxygen and light. Oxidative degradation of Chl metabolites might, only, be further processed after defecation by bacteria, so that finally macrocyclic ring opening at the late stage may occur in pathways comparable to plants [9,22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chlorophyll Catabolites in Senescent Leaves of Lima Bean (Phaseolus Lunatus) and in the Frass of Spodoptera Littoralis After Defecation

Badgaa¹,

Mithoefer²,

Otgonbayar³

et al. 2021

Atlantis Highlights in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences

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Chlorophylls (Chls), the green pigments responsible for photosynthesis in plants, algae and bacteria, are also part of the daily diet of herbivorous feeders. Chl degradation occurs during leaf senescence and fruit ripening but is also noticed as a response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Besides the programmed degradation during senescence different factors such as high temperature, extreme pH values, enzymatic actions, molecular oxygen, and light initiate the degradation of Chl. To gain more information on Chl degradation in the gut of plant-feeding insects, regurgitate and frass of Spodoptera littoralis caterpillars were analysed for late Chl catabolites by using LC-MS, UV, Fluorescence and NMR spectroscopy. The major metabolites were determined in fresh leaves of the food plant lima bean (Phaseoluslunatus), and were compared with digestive products. The observed spectrum of metabolites can be attributed to the combined action of esterolytic gut enzymes and the strongly alkaline milieu in the digestive tract. Interestingly, linear Chl catabolites were not detected in the gut of the larvae of S. littoralis. Substantial amounts of Chl catabolites were found to be macrocyclic rings opened in the senescent food plants, but also in the aged frass. We studied two primary fluorescent chlorophyll catabolites in senescent leaves of lima bean. One of the primary fluorescent chlorophyll catabolites that have been found in the frass of S. littoralis might be generating opened tetrapyrroles of Chl, only after being exposed to the air and light.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chlorophyll Catabolites in Senescent Leaves of Lima Bean (Phaseolus Lunatus) and in the Frass of Spodoptera Littoralis After Defecation

Badgaa¹,

Mithoefer²,

Otgonbayar³

et al. 2021

Atlantis Highlights in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences

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“…Feces samples of Spodopteral ittoralis were analyzed to monitor the production of Chl catabolites during and after plant digestion in the insect.S ince it is known from literature, that a gut protein directlys cavenges an early metabolite of Chl, [23,24,48] the hypothesis was, that as ubstantial degradation is occurring by microbes after excretion. Therefore, samples were not only analyzed directly after excretion, but also incubated for one week at dry and wet conditions.…”

Section: Fecesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The further fate of Chl degradation products during abiotic decay as well as herbivory remains open to a large extent. Previous studies showed chlorophyll catabolite products in feces of herbivores that are also known from enzymatic Chl degradation in plants, for example, chlorophyllide and pheophorbide . However, RCCs or similar compounds with an open macrocycle were not found so far in such samples since anaerobic conditions in the gut hinder potential oxidative reactions to open the macrocycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Previous studies showedc hlorophyll catabolite products in feces of herbivores that are also known from enzymatic Chl degradation in plants, fore xample, chlorophyllide and pheophorbide. [23,24] However,R CCs or similar compounds with an open macrocycle were not found so far in such samples since anaerobic conditions in the gut hinder potentialo xidative reactions to open the macrocycle. As soon as the catabolites are outside the digestive system,t he condition is drastically changed to aerobic and the presence of light.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Pyrrolic and Dipyrrolic Chlorophyll Degradation Products in Plants and Herbivores

Ritter

Oetama

Schulze

et al. 2020

Chemistry A European J

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The degradation of chlorophyll,t he omnipresent green pigment, has been investigatedi ntensively over the last 30 years resulting in manye lucidated tetrapyrrolic degradationp roducts. With ac omparison to the degradation of the structurally similarh eme, we hereby propose an ovel additionalc hlorophyll degradation mechanism to mono-and dipyrrolic products.T his is the first proof of the occurrence of af amilyo fm ono-and dipyrrols in leaves that are previously only known as heme degradationp roducts.T his prod-uct familyi sa lso found in spit and feces of herbivores with specific metabolomic patterns reflecting the origin of the samples. Based on chromatographica nd mass spectrometric evidencea swell as on mechanistic considerations we also suggest severalt entative new degradation products.O ne of them,d ihydro BOX A, was fully confirmed as an ovel natural product by synthesis andc omparison of its spectroscopic data.Supporting information and the ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this articlecan be found under: https://doi.org/10. Scheme1.Enzymatic chlorophyll degradation in plants.Scheme2.Enzymatic (top) andoxidativeheme degradation by reactive oxygen species (ROS) to PDPs and BOXes.

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The fate of chlorophyll in phytophagous insects goes beyond nutrition

Oetama

Pentzold

Boland

2020

Zeitschrift Für Naturforschung C

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Chlorophyll (Chl) is a natural compound that is found in all autotrophic plants. Since phytophagous insects ingest the photosynthetically active material with the plant leaves, the question arises if and how herbivores deal with Chl and its degradation products. Here we review findings on Chl degradation in phytophagous insects and highlight the role of these ubiquitous plant metabolites for plant-feeding insects. Due to the anaerobic gut of many insects, the degradation is limited to the removal of the peripheral substituents, while the tetrapyrrole core remains intact. Proteins, such as red fluorescent protein, P252 (a novel 252-kDa protein), and chlorophyllide binding protein have been reported to occur in the insect gut and might be indirectly connected to Chl degradation. Besides of an nutritional value, e.g., by taking up Mg 2+ ions or by sequestration of carbon from the phytol side chain, the Chl degradation products may serve the insect, after binding to certain proteins, as antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral factors. The protein complexes may also confer protection against reactive oxygen species. The antibiotic potential of proteins and degradation products does not only benefit phytophagous insects but also human being in medical application of cancer treatment for instance. This review highlights these aspects from a molecular, biochemical, and ecological point of view.

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The Green Gut: Chlorophyll Degradation in the Gut of Spodoptera littoralis

Cited by 3 publications

References 44 publications

Chlorophyll Catabolites in Senescent Leaves of Lima Bean (Phaseolus Lunatus) and in the Frass of Spodoptera Littoralis After Defecation

Chlorophyll Catabolites in Senescent Leaves of Lima Bean (Phaseolus Lunatus) and in the Frass of Spodoptera Littoralis After Defecation

Pyrrolic and Dipyrrolic Chlorophyll Degradation Products in Plants and Herbivores

The fate of chlorophyll in phytophagous insects goes beyond nutrition

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