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Scheloribatid Mites as the Source of Pumiliotoxins in Dendrobatid Frogs†

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Abstract

The strawberry poison frog Dendrobates pumilio (Anura: Dendrobatidae) and related poison frogs contain a variety of dendrobatid alkaloids that are considered to be sequestered through the consumption of alkaloid-containing arthropods microsympatrically distributed in the habitat. In addition to ants, beetles, and millipedes, we found that adults of two species of oribatid mites belonging to the cohort Brachypylina, trophically a lower level of animal than ants and beetles, contain dendrobatid alkaloids. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) of hexane extracts of adult Scheloribates azumaensis (Oribatida: Acari) revealed the presence of not only pumiliotoxin 251D (8-hydroxy-8-methyl-6-(2′-methylhexylidene)-1-azabicyclo[4.3.0]nonane), but also precoccinelline 193C and another coccinelline-type alkaloid. From the corresponding extracts of an unidentified Scheloribates sp., pumiliotoxin 237A (8-hydroxy-8-methyl-6-(2′-methylpentylidene)-1-azabicyclo[4.3.0]nonane) was detected as a minor component, and identified by synthesis. The presence of related alkaloids, namely deoxypumiliotoxin 193H, a 6,8-diethyl-5-propenylindolizidine, and tentatively, a 1-ethyl-4-pentenynylquinolizidine, were indicated by the GC/MS fragmentation patterns, along with at least another six unidentified alkaloid components. Thus, one possible origin of pumiliotoxins, coccinellid alkaloids, and certain izidines found in poison frogs may be mites of the genus Scheloribates and perhaps related genera in the suborder Oribatida.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. H. Katsumata (Yokohama Plant Protection Station, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Yokohama, 231-0801 Japan) for measuring the body size of the S. azumaensis tritonymph. We also thank reviewers of this manuscript for their valuable comments. This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no.15580090) and the 21st century COE program for Innovative Food and Environmental Studies Pioneered by Entomomimetic Sciences, from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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  1. Wataru Takada

    Present address: Kagome Co. Ltd., Research Institute, 17 Nishitoyama, Nishinasuno, Nasu-gun, Tochigi, 329-2762, Japan

  2. Tomoyo Sakata

    Present address: Department of Physiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706-1510, USA

  3. Yoshinari Enami

    Present address: Shiga Prefecture Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Experiment Station, 516 Dainaka, Azuchi-cho, Gamou-gun, Shiga, 521-1301, Japan

  4. Yasumasa Kuwahara

    Present address: Kyotogakuen University, Kameoka-shi, Kyoto, 621-8555, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Life Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Wataru Takada, Tomoyo Sakata, Naoki Mori, Ritsuo Nishida & Yasumasa Kuwahara

  2. Department of Upland Farming, Tohoku National Agricultural Experimental Station, 50 Arai, Fukushima, 960-2156, Japan

    Satoshi Shimano & Yoshinari Enami

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  1. Wataru Takada
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Correspondence to Naoki Mori.

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Chemical Ecology of Oribatid Mites IV.

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Takada, W., Sakata, T., Shimano, S. et al. Scheloribatid Mites as the Source of Pumiliotoxins in Dendrobatid Frogs†. J Chem Ecol 31, 2403–2415 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-7109-9

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