Defense
Cabbage aphids produce a myrosinase enzyme in head and thoracic muscles; the aphids also uptake glucosinolates, particularly sinigrin, from the plants on which they feed, storing the glucosinolates in their haemolymph. The combination of the glucosinolates and the myrosinase enzyme produces a violent chemical reaction that releases the mustard oil chemical allyl isothiocyanate. The defense mechanism has a dramatic negative effect on the survival of the larval ladybird predator ''Adalia bipunctata''. The chemical defence of the aphids has been likened to a "walking mustard oil bomb".The myrosinase from ''Brevicoryne brassicae'' appears to have evolved separately from myrosinases found in plants, possibly a case of convergent evolution. Aphid myrosinase appears to have greater similarity to animal beta-O-glucosidases than to plant myrosinases.
References:
Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.
