Poison frogs sequester chemical defenses from their diet of leaf litter arthropods for defense against predation. Little is known about the physiological adaptations that confer this unusual bioaccumulation ability. We conducted an alkaloid-feeding experiment with the Diablito poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica) to determine how quickly alkaloids are accumulated and how toxins modify frog physiology using quantitative proteomics. Diablito frogs rapidly accumulated the alkaloid decahydroquinoline within four days, and dietary alkaloid exposure altered protein abundance in the intestines, liver, and skin. Many proteins that increased in abundance with decahydroquinoline accumulation are plasma glycoproteins, including the complement system and the toxin-binding protein saxiphilin. Other protein classes that change in abundance with decahydroquinoline accumulation are membrane proteins involved in small molecule transport and metabolism. Overall, this work shows poison frogs can rapidly accumulate alkaloids, which alter carrier protein abundance, initiate an immune response, and alter small molecule transport and metabolism dynamics across tissues.

中文翻译：

---

快速毒素隔离改变了毒蛙的生理

毒蛙从其树叶凋落的节肢动物的饮食中吸收化学防御作用，以防御捕食。赋予这种异常的生物蓄积能力的生理适应性知之甚少。我们对Diablito毒蛙（Oophaga sylvatica）进行了生物碱喂养实验，以确定生物碱的蓄积速度以及毒素如何利用定量蛋白质组学改变青蛙的生理。空竹蛙在四天内迅速积累了生物碱十氢喹啉，饮食中生物碱的暴露改变了肠道，肝脏和皮肤中的蛋白质丰度。随着十氢喹啉积累而大量增加的许多蛋白质是血浆糖蛋白，包括补体系统和毒素结合蛋白亲水素。随着十氢喹啉累积而大量变化的其他蛋白质类别是参与小分子转运和代谢的膜蛋白。总的来说，这项研究表明，毒蛙可以迅速积聚生物碱，从而改变载体蛋白的丰度，启动免疫反应，并改变小分子在整个组织中的运输和代谢动力学。