John Carroll University Carroll Collected 2018 Faculty Bibliography Faculty Bibliographies Community Homepage 2018 Sequestered Alkaloid Defenses in the Dendrobatid Poison Frog Oophaga pumilio Provide Variable Protection from Microbial Pathogens K. J. Hovey E. M. Seiter Erin E. Johnson John Carroll University,
[email protected] Ralph Saporito John Carroll University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://collected.jcu.edu/fac_bib_2018 Part of the Biology Commons, Chemistry Commons, and the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Hovey, K. J.; Seiter, E. M.; Johnson, Erin E.; and Saporito, Ralph, "Sequestered Alkaloid Defenses in the Dendrobatid Poison Frog Oophaga pumilio Provide Variable Protection from Microbial Pathogens" (2018). 2018 Faculty Bibliography. 19. https://collected.jcu.edu/fac_bib_2018/19 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Bibliographies Community Homepage at Carroll Collected. It has been accepted for inclusion in 2018 Faculty Bibliography by an authorized administrator of Carroll Collected. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Sequestered Alkaloid Defenses in the Dendrobatid Poison Frog Oophaga pumilio Provide Variable Protection from Microbial Pathogens 1 1 1 1 Kyle J. Hovey & Emily M. Seiter & Erin E. Johnson & Ralph A. Saporito Abstract Most amphibians produce their own defensive chemicals; however, poison frogs sequester their alkaloid-based defenses from dietary arthropods. Alkaloids function as a defense against predators, and certain types appear to inhibit microbial growth. Alkaloid defenses vary considerably among populations of poison frogs, reflecting geographic differences in availability of dietary arthropods. Consequently, environmentally driven differences in frog defenses may have significant implications regard-ing their protection against pathogens.