DynaMo Seminar: Verena Jeschke

DynaMo Semiars are a series of public seminars hosted by DynaMo Center. We are pleased to announce our next seminar speaker:

Verena Jeschke

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany

Modes of action of glucosinolate-derived isothiocyanates: the benefit and backlash of detoxification

Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are the toxic breakdown products derived from glucosinolates (GLS), which are the major plant defense metabolites present in the order Brassicales (e.g. cabbage, broccoli, mustard). While many specialist insects possess efficient detoxification strategies avoiding GLS breakdown, generalist insects must deal with the toxic ITCs. Previous studies in our group revealed that a proportion of ITCs is metabolized to glutathione (GSH) conjugates. Nevertheless, insects ingesting ITCs suffer from decreased growth rates and delayed development when feeding on brassicaceous plants. However, the factors causing fitness reduction and the mode of action of ITCs are still poorly understood. We aimed at understanding (1) how different classes of GLS influence insect development, (2) how insect metabolism is affected by ingested ITCs, and (3) which role the detoxification with GSH plays, and (4) investigated biological targets of ITCs using proteomics techniques.

Verena Jeschke is a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, since November 2012.

Publications

Jeschke, V., Gershenzon, J., Giddings Vassão, D. (2016). A mode of action of glucosinolate-derived isothiocyanates: Detoxification depletes glutathione and cysteine levels with ramifications on protein metabolism in Spodoptera littoralis. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 71, 37-48.

Jeschke, V., Gershenzon, J., Giddings Vassão, D. (2016). Insect detoxification of glucosinolates and their hydrolysis products. In S. Kopriva (Ed.), Advances in Botanical Research: Glucosinolates. London, Oxford, Boston, New York und San Diego: Academic Press.

Jeschke, V., Gershenzon, J., Giddings Vassão, D. (2015). Metabolism of glucosinolates and their hydrolysis products in insect herbivores. In R. Jetter (Ed.), Recent Advances Phytochemistry: The formation, structure and activity of phytochemicals (pp. 163-194). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Shroff, R., Schramm, K., Jeschke, V., Nemes, P., Vertes, A., Gershenzon, J., Svatoš, A. (2015). Quantification of plant surface metabolites by matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization mass spectrometry imaging: glucosinolates on Arabidopsis thaliana leaves. The Plant Journal, 81(6), 961-972.