SANGUINARINE, A PHOTOTOXIC H2O2-PRODUCING ALKALOID |
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| Authors: | R W Tuveson Richard A Larson Karen A Marley Gui-rong Wang May R Berenbaum |
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| Institution: | Department of Microbiology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA;institute for Environmental Studies University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA;Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA |
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| Abstract: | Sanguinarine chloride, a quaternary salt of a benzophenanthrene alkaloid, was phototoxic to catalase-deficient strains of Escherichia coli but not to Trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper moth larvae), an insect with high levels of catalase activity. Chemical analyses confirm that sanguinarine is an efficient producer of H2O2. This differential toxicity suggests that the mode of phototoxic action involves production of H2O2 which could be detoxified in many organisms by catalase. |
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