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Cover Picture: Rapid Hydrolysis of Quorum‐Sensing Molecules in the Gut of Lepidopteran Larvae (ChemBioChem 12/2008)
Author(s) -
Funke Matthias,
Büchler Rita,
Mahobia Vertica,
Schneeberg Alexander,
Ramm Michael,
Boland Wilhelm
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.200890044
Subject(s) - spodoptera littoralis , midgut , chemistry , biochemistry , carbohydrase , insect , hindgut , spodoptera , quorum sensing , diaminopimelic acid , biology , enzyme , larva , botany , noctuidae , virulence , gene , peptidoglycan , recombinant dna
The cover picture shows a caterpillar of the cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis feeding on a leaf of the lima bean ( Phaseolus lunatus ). Microelectrode studies showed that the larval gut milieu is strongly alkaline (pH≈8.5–10.0) in the fore‐ and midgut, descending to pH 7.0 in the hindgut. Due to the alkaline milieu in the for‐ and midgut, the lactone ring of bacterial autoinducers such as N ‐acylhomoserinelactones (AHLs) is rapidly opened. Further degradation to the inactive components homoserine and the acyl moiety (short‐to‐medium‐chain fatty acids and their 3‐oxo or 3‐hydroxy derivatives) is then achieved by a microbial N ‐acylamino acid hydrolase (AAH) and/or related enzymatic activities in the insect gut. The alkaline milieu in combination with the enzymatic degradation might account for the complete absence of AHLs in the intestinal fluid of the studied Spodoptera spp. For more details see the article by W. Boland et al. on p. 1953 ff.