Manduca sexta caterpillars' developed surprising detoxification mechanism against their host plant's sweet toxin

Plants produce a large arsenal of toxic compounds in order fend off herbivorous insects. To make sure that the toxicity of these defensive substances will not harm the plants themselves, many plants add a sugar molecule to some of their toxins. Digestive enzymes called glycosidases in the insect gut usually cleave off this sugar to release the toxin—with harmful effects on the insects. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, now found the opposite mech