Seminar: Glucosinolate breakdown, cyanide and insect detoxification
with Prof. Dr. Ute Wittstock, TU Braunschweig, Germany
Time: February 3rd, 10:00
Place: PLEN, K117-2 + H117-3
Abstract: The diversity of the glucosinolate-myrosinase system as an activated chemical defense arises from the variation of both glucosinolate biosynthesis and glucosinolate breakdown. One goal of our research is to learn to understand how and why plants generate diversity at the level of glucosinolate breakdown. We have been studying the specifier proteins, a group of plant proteins with a strong impact on the product spectrum of glucosinolate breakdown. We are also interested in the counteradaptations which insect herbivores may have evolved in order to use glucosinolate-containing plants as hosts. In the course of these studies, we have discovered that larvae of the cabbage white butterfly convert the 'mustard oil bomb' into a 'cyanide bomb' when feeding on benzylglucosinolate-containing plants. Surprisingly, they seem to tolerate high levels of cyanide released from their diet.
The talk will give an update on specifier protein structure and their interaction with myrosinase and present some recent results on cyanide detoxification in cabbage white larvae.