Colchicine, a well-known alkaloid, is a potent inhibitor of polymerization of tubulin leading to mitotic arrest. It is highly toxic to eukaryotic cells but also widely used in the field of medicine and plant breeding. Gloriosa superba (family: Colchicaceae) is an important natural source of colchicine. The seeds, tubers and leaves of this plant contain about 0.8, 1.2 and 0.014% colchicine by dry weight respectively. A noctuid moth, Polytela gloriosae (family: Noctuidae), feeds voraciously on leaves of G. superba without any adverse effect. However, the fate of colchicine and the mechanisms by which the insect is able to overcome the toxicity of the metabolite is not known. Here, we trace the fate of colchicine in both, the larva and moth of P. gloriosae. Colchicine was quantified in different body parts of the larvae and moth by high performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography mass spectrophotometry and nuclear magnetic resonance methods. Of the total colchicine taken in by the larva, a larger portion was excreted, while the rest was sequestered in its cuticle. In the moths however, the wings, legs and antennae were found to accumulate high amount of colchicine. The sequestered colchicine, in both the larva and adult, were chemically identical to that found in the plant. Negligible amounts of demethyl-(−)-colchicine, a less toxic derivative of colchicine was also detected. We discuss the probable adaptive significance of sequestration of colchicine by the insect.

中文翻译：

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夜蛾蛾Polytela gloriosae（Fab。）隔离植物次生代谢产物秋水仙碱。

秋水仙碱是一种著名的生物碱，是一种有效的微管蛋白聚合抑制剂，可导致有丝分裂停滞。它对真核细胞有剧毒，但也广泛用于医学和植物育种领域。嘉兰属 荷（家庭：秋水仙科）是秋水仙碱的重要天然来源。该植物的种子，块茎和叶分别含有约0.8、1.2和0.014％干重的秋水仙碱。夜蛾（Polytela gloriosae）（科：夜蛾科）以超级G （G。superba ）的叶子为食没有任何不良影响。然而，秋水仙碱的命运以及昆虫能够克服代谢产物毒性的机制尚不清楚。在这里，我们追溯了秋水仙碱在P. gloriosae的幼虫和飞蛾中的命运。通过高效液相色谱法，液相色谱质谱法和核磁共振法对幼虫和蛾类不同部位的秋水仙碱进行定量。幼虫摄入的秋水仙碱总量中，有较大一部分被排泄，而其余的则被隔离在表皮中。然而，在飞蛾中，发现翅膀，腿和触角会积聚大量秋水仙碱。幼虫和成虫中螯合的秋水仙碱在化学上与植物中发现的相同。秋水仙碱的毒性较小的脱甲基-（-）-秋水仙碱的量也可忽略不计。我们讨论了昆虫隔离秋水仙碱的可能的适应性意义。