Biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in Zygaena

Lotus is a host plant for Zygaena insects that are able to sequester the cyanogenic glucosides in the host plant for use in their own defense against predators. Zygaenidae have the additional ability to carry out de novo synthesis of cyanogenic glucosides following the same biosynthetic pathway as plants. We are currently working to isolate and characterize the enzymes and genes responsible for cyanogenic glucoside synthesis and degradation in these insects.