Gut bacteria make cabbage poison harmless
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - 10:11
in Biology & Nature
The cabbage family contains rather toxic compounds. Greenfly, caterpillars and cabbage fly larvae attack cabbages and rapeseed ferociously nonetheless. How can that be? The secret lies in their gut, at least for the cabbage fly. Its gut bacteria deliver a special service to their host: they produce enzymes that degrade the toxic compound into harmless pieces.