Chemical ecology of alkaloids in poison frogs
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Alkaloids are used as chemical defenses by taxa spanning the tree of life, including plants, insects, birds, fish, and amphibians. Poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae sequester alkaloids from their diet of small arthropods and use these alkaloids, in tandem with their aposematic coloration, to deter predation. Poison frog toxicity has been studied for decades, with much of the work focusing on characterizing the diversity of toxins found across species. This foundational work has enabled the pursuit of additional questions looking at how these alkaloids shape the interactions of frogs with other organisms in their environments. In this dissertation work, I use a combination of natural sampling in the field, controlled laboratory experiments, and detailed in vitro and molecular analyses to explore the role of alkaloids in poison frog ecology and evolution. First, I explore the relative impact of genetics and the environment in shaping poison frog alkaloid profiles and find that poison frogs seem to be locally adapted to environmentally available alkaloids, such that frogs are better able to sequester, and in some cases modify, alkaloids to which they have been historically exposed. Then, I examine the impact of alkaloids on the skin microbiome of poison frogs and find that alkaloids play a significant role in shaping the microbiome, making microbial communities more diverse and less even. These patterns seem to be explained, at least in part, by the ability of some strains to metabolize alkaloids for use as a carbon source. Together, these findings expand upon our understanding of how alkaloids shape poison frog ecological interactions across scales ranging from the microscopic to the evolutionary.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Caty, Stephanie Nicole |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | O'Connell, Lauren A |
| Thesis advisor | O'Connell, Lauren A |
| Thesis advisor | Cremer, Jonas |
| Thesis advisor | Fukami, Tadashi, 1972- |
| Thesis advisor | Relman, David A |
| Degree committee member | Cremer, Jonas |
| Degree committee member | Fukami, Tadashi, 1972- |
| Degree committee member | Relman, David A |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Biology |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Stephanie Caty. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Biology. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/cy136ng2587 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Stephanie Nicole Caty
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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