Chlorophyll catabolites in the frass of the Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars (Aglais urticae L.)

B Amarsanaa,W Boland

doi:10.5564/mjc.v14i0.198

Abstract

Herbivorous insects excrete most of the consumed chlorophyll as partly degraded derivatives lacking the phytol side chain and the central magnesium ion. To study common degradation patterns of chlorophyll in plant-feeding insects, the frass of the Lepidopteran caterpillar, Aglais urticae was analysed for chlorophyll catabolites. The major metabolites were determined as pheohorbide a and pyropheophorbide a by using LC-MS, LC-SPE-NMR and UV. These compounds are not present in fresh leaves of the food plants (Urtica dioica). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5564/mjc.v14i0.198 Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 14 (40), 2013, p46-50

Highlights

Chlorophylls (Chl) are ubiquitous pigments present in nature
Since the Chl metabolites were present in the fecal shield of the larvae, a structure that is build from the digestive products of the insect, this prompted us to analyze the frass of other Lepidopteran species for Chl degradation products
We demonstrate that the overall degradation process in the insect is identical with the degradative pathway in other Lepidopteran species, but differs on the quantitative level of the early degradation products pheophorbides a/b (Phe) a and pyropheophorbides a/b (Pph) a

Summary

Introduction

Chlorophylls (Chl) are ubiquitous pigments present in nature. Chlorophyll is an extremely important biomolecule, critical in photosynthesis, which allows plants to absorb energy from light. *- presence of Mg2+ ion, 9/8- chlorophyll (Chl) a/b, 2/1- chlorophyllide (Chlide) a/b, 10/7- pheophytin (Phy) a/b, 5/3pheophorbide (Phe) a/b, 6/4- pyropheophorbide (Pph) a/b. Since the Chl metabolites were present in the fecal shield of the larvae, a structure that is build from the digestive products of the insect, this prompted us to analyze the frass of other Lepidopteran species for Chl degradation products.

Results

Conclusion