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Science 16 April 1976:
Vol. 192. no. 4236, pp. 256 - 258
DOI: 10.1126/science.1257764
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Articles

Science, Vol 192, Issue 4236, 256-258
Copyright © 1976 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

A novel means for dealing with L-canavanine, a toxic metabolite

GA Rosenthal, DL Dahlman, and DH Janzen

L-canavanine is a highly toxic L-arginine analog found in some leguminous seeds. Larvae of the bruchid beetle Caryedes brasiliensis, collected in Costa Rica, subsist solely on tissues of the mature seed of Dioclea megacarpa, which contains more than 8 percent L-canavanine by dry weight. The arginyl-tRNA synthetase of the bruchid beetle larvae discriminates between L-arginine and L-canavanine, and canavanyl proteins are not synthesized. In this way, bruchid beetle larvae avoid an adverse biochemical effect of L-canavanine.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Plant Phenols Utilized as Nutrients by a Phytophagous Insect.
E. A. BERNAYS and S. WOODHEAD (1982)
Science 216, 201-203
   Abstract »    PDF »
L-Canaline Detoxification: A Seed Predator's Biochemical Mechanism.
G. A. ROSENTHAL, D. L. DAHLMAN, and D. H. JANZEN (1978)
Science 202, 528-529
   Abstract »    PDF »
Degradation and detoxification of canavanine by a specialized seed predator.
G. Rosenthal, D. Janzen, and D. Dahlman (1977)
Science 196, 658-660
   Abstract »    PDF »


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