Milkweed butterfly resistance to plant toxins is linked to sequestration, not coping with a toxic diet

Milkweed butterfly resistance to plant toxins is linked to sequestration, not coping with a toxic diet.

Insect resistance to plant toxins is widely assumed to have evolved in response to using defended plants as a dietary resource. We tested this hypothesis in the milkweed butterflies (Danaini) which have progressively evolved higher levels of resistance to cardenolide toxins based on amino acid substitutions of their cellular sodium-potassium pump (Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase). Using chemical, physiologic...

Na+/K+-ATPase resistance and cardenolide sequestration: basal adaptations to host plant toxins in the milkweed bugs (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae: Lygaeinae).

Despite sequestration of toxins being a common coevolutionary response to plant defence in phytophagous insects, the macroevolution of the traits involved is largely unaddressed. Using a phylogenetic approach comprising species from four continents, we analysed the ability to sequester toxic cardenolides in the hemipteran subfamily Lygaeinae, which is widely associated with cardenolide-producin...

a comparison of teachers and supervisors, with respect to teacher efficacy and reflection

supervisors play an undeniable role in training teachers, before starting their professional experience by preparing them, at the initial years of their teaching by checking their work within the proper framework, and later on during their teaching by assessing their progress. but surprisingly, exploring their attributes, professional demands, and qualifications has remained a neglected theme i...

Resistance to Bt toxins.

High Serum Ferritin Concentrations in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Is Not Related to Insulin Resistance

OBJECTIVE: Some data are available on the association between components of the insulin resistance syndrome and serum ferritin. Insulin resistance is observed in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) We hypothesize that body iron stores might be increased in these women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and six people (103 PCOS patients and 103 healthy women who were matched for a...