IBBEA   24401
INSTITUTO DE BIODIVERSIDAD Y BIOLOGIA EXPERIMENTAL Y APLICADA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Impact of alkaloids in food consumption, metabolism and survival in a blood-sucking insect
Autor/es:
MUÑOZ, IGNACIO J.; BARROZO, ROMINA B.*; SCHILMAN, PABLO E.*
Revista:
Scientific Reports
Editorial:
Nature Publishing Group
Referencias:
Año: 2020 vol. 10
Resumen:
The sense of taste provides information about the ?good? or ?bad? quality of a food source, whichmay be potentially nutritious or toxic. Most alkaloids taste bitter to humans, and because bitter tasteis synonymous of noxious food, they are generally rejected. This response may be due to an innatelow palatability or due to a malaise that occurs after food ingestion, which could even lead to death.We investigated in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus, whether alkaloids such as quinine, caffeine andtheophylline, are merely distasteful, or if anti-appetitive responses are caused by a post-ingestionphysiological effect, or both of these options. Although anti-appetitive responses were observed forthe three alkaloids, only caffeine and theophylline affect metabolic and respiratory parameters thatreflected an underlying physiological stress following their ingestion. Furthermore, caffeine caused thehighest mortality. In contrast, quinine appears to be a merely unpalatable compound. The sense of tastehelps insects to avoid making wrong feeding decisions, such as the intake of bitter/toxic foods, and thusavoid potentially harmful effects on health, a mechanism preserved in obligate hematophagous insects.