CARDENOLIDES FROM ERYSIMUM-CHEIRANTHOIDES - FEEDING DETERRENTS TO PIERIS-RAPAE LARVAE

Larvae of the cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae, refuse to feed on the wild mustard, Erysimum cheiranthoides, due to the presence of alcohol-extractable deterrents. The active components were extracted into n-BuOH, and this extract was separated into four fractions (I-IV) by reverse-phase HPLC. Fractions III and IV retained the feeding deterrent activity. The activity of fraction III was found to be due to the cardenolide diglycosides 1 and 2, which were previously reported as oviposition deterrents for gravid P. rapae butterflies. Three active compounds were isolated from fraction IV by column chromatography on silica gel followed by reverse-phase HPLC. These compounds were identified as a monoglycoside, digitoxigenin 3-O-beta-D-glucoside (4), and two diglycosides, glucodigigulomethyloside (5) and glucodigifucoside (6). An additional cardenolide isolated from fraction II was identified as cheirotoxin (7). All compounds were identified by UV, NMR (H-1 and C-13), and mass spectrometry, as well as hydrolysis experiments. The feeding deterrent activity of these compounds was compared with that of related commercially available chemicals and other compounds isolated from E. cheiranthoides.