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Science 23 October 1981:
Vol. 214. no. 4519, pp. 460 - 462
DOI: 10.1126/science.214.4519.460
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Articles

Interaction Between the Antibiotic Trichothecenes and the Higher Plant Baccharis megapotamica

BRUCE B. JARVIS 1, JACOB O. MIDIWO 1, DAVID TUTHILL 1, and GEORGE A. BEAN 2

1 Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park 20742
2 Department of Botany, University of Maryland

The Brazilian shrub Baccharis megapotamica contains significant amounts of antibiotic trichothecenes. When these plants are grown in the United States, they are devoid of the mycotoxins. Feeding experiments with fungus-produced trichothecenes show that Baccharis megapotamica absorbs, translocates, and chemically alters these compounds to ones with structures analogous to those found in the plant in its native habitat. The mycotoxins, which have no apparent ill effect in Baccharis megapotamica, kill tomatoes, peppers, and artichokes.

Submitted on May 22, 1981
Revised on July 14, 1981


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Yellow rain and the cloud of chemical war.
N Wade (1981)
Science 214, 1008-1009
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