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An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin

About 10% of angiosperms, an estimated 20,000 species, produce latex from ubiquitous isoprene precursors. Latex, an aqueous suspension of rubber particles and other compounds, functions as an antifeedant and herbivory deterrent. It is soluble in neutral to alkaline pH, and coagulates in acidic envir...

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Autor principal: Rajan, Vidya
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10672702/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38004335
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life13112195
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author Rajan, Vidya
author_facet Rajan, Vidya
author_sort Rajan, Vidya
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description About 10% of angiosperms, an estimated 20,000 species, produce latex from ubiquitous isoprene precursors. Latex, an aqueous suspension of rubber particles and other compounds, functions as an antifeedant and herbivory deterrent. It is soluble in neutral to alkaline pH, and coagulates in acidic environments. Here, I propose that foregut-fermenting herbivores such as ruminants, kangaroos, sloths, insect larvae, and tadpoles have adapted to latex in forage with the evolution of alkaline anterior digestive chamber(s). However, they consequently become susceptible to the action of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) δ-endotoxin and related bioinsecticides which are activated in alkaline environments. By contrast, hindgut-fermenting herbivores, such as horses and rabbits, have acidic anterior digestive chambers, in which latex coagulates and may cause gut blockage, but in which Bt is not activated. The latex-adapted foregut herbivore vs. latex-maladapted hindgut herbivore hypothesis developed in this paper has implications for hindgut-fermenting livestock and zoo animals which may be provided with latex-containing forage that is detrimental to their gut health. Further, ruminants and herbivorous tadpoles with alkaline anterior chambers are at risk of damage by the supposedly “environmentally friendly” Bt bioinsecticide, which is widely disseminated or engineered into crops which may enter animal feed streams.
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spelling pubmed-106727022023-11-11 An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin Rajan, Vidya Life (Basel) Article About 10% of angiosperms, an estimated 20,000 species, produce latex from ubiquitous isoprene precursors. Latex, an aqueous suspension of rubber particles and other compounds, functions as an antifeedant and herbivory deterrent. It is soluble in neutral to alkaline pH, and coagulates in acidic environments. Here, I propose that foregut-fermenting herbivores such as ruminants, kangaroos, sloths, insect larvae, and tadpoles have adapted to latex in forage with the evolution of alkaline anterior digestive chamber(s). However, they consequently become susceptible to the action of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) δ-endotoxin and related bioinsecticides which are activated in alkaline environments. By contrast, hindgut-fermenting herbivores, such as horses and rabbits, have acidic anterior digestive chambers, in which latex coagulates and may cause gut blockage, but in which Bt is not activated. The latex-adapted foregut herbivore vs. latex-maladapted hindgut herbivore hypothesis developed in this paper has implications for hindgut-fermenting livestock and zoo animals which may be provided with latex-containing forage that is detrimental to their gut health. Further, ruminants and herbivorous tadpoles with alkaline anterior chambers are at risk of damage by the supposedly “environmentally friendly” Bt bioinsecticide, which is widely disseminated or engineered into crops which may enter animal feed streams. MDPI 2023-11-11 /pmc/articles/PMC10672702/ /pubmed/38004335 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life13112195 Text en © 2023 by the author. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Rajan, Vidya
An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin
title An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin
title_full An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin
title_fullStr An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin
title_full_unstemmed An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin
title_short An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin
title_sort alkaline foregut protects herbivores from latex in forage, but increases their susceptibility to bt endotoxin
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10672702/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38004335
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life13112195
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