Imperial College London
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Dr Jake Bundy

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Senior Lecturer
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 3039j.bundy Website

 
 
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Location

 

E312Burlington DanesHammersmith Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Bundy:2015:10.1038/ncomms8869,
author = {Bundy, JG and Liebeke, M and Strittmatter, N and Fearn, S and Morgan, AJ and Kille, P and Fuchser, J and Wallis, D and Palchykov, V and Robertson, J and Lahive, E and Spurgeon, DJ and McPhail, DS and Takats, Z},
doi = {10.1038/ncomms8869},
journal = {Nature Communications},
pages = {1--7},
title = {Unique metabolites protect earthworms against plant polyphenols},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8869},
volume = {6},
year = {2015}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - All higher plants produce polyphenols, for defence against above-ground herbivory. These polyphenols also influence the soil micro- and macrofauna that break down plant leaf litter. Polyphenols therefore indirectly affect the fluxes of soil nutrients and, ultimately, carbon turnover and ecosystem functioning in soils. It is unknown how earthworms, the major component of animal biomass in many soils, cope with high-polyphenol diets. Here, we show that earthworms possess a class of unique surface-active metabolites in their gut, which we term ‘drilodefensins’. These compounds counteract the inhibitory effects of polyphenols on earthworm gut enzymes, and high polyphenol diets increase drilodefensin concentrations in both laboratory and field populations. This shows that drilodefensins protect earthworms from the harmful effects of ingested polyphenols. We have identified the key mechanism for adaptation to a dietary challenge in an animal group that has a major role in organic matter recycling in soils worldwide.
AU  - Bundy,JG
AU  - Liebeke,M
AU  - Strittmatter,N
AU  - Fearn,S
AU  - Morgan,AJ
AU  - Kille,P
AU  - Fuchser,J
AU  - Wallis,D
AU  - Palchykov,V
AU  - Robertson,J
AU  - Lahive,E
AU  - Spurgeon,DJ
AU  - McPhail,DS
AU  - Takats,Z
DO  - 10.1038/ncomms8869
EP  - 7
PY  - 2015///
SN  - 2041-1723
SP  - 1
TI  - Unique metabolites protect earthworms against plant polyphenols
T2  - Nature Communications
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8869
UR  - https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8869
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/24030
VL  - 6
ER  -
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