Meeting Abstract

S6.1  Monday, Jan. 5  Pharmacological principles and approaches for ecologists SORENSEN-FORBEY, J.S.; Boise State University jenniferforbey@boisestate.edu

Nearly 500 years ago, Paracelsus fathered the field of toxicology by introducing the concept of the dose-response relationship of toxins. He stated that "All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy". Since then, pharmacologists have sought to understand mechanisms by which toxins, or drugs, are processed such that the right therapeutic dose of a drug could be achieved in patients. Pharmacologists now know that the right dose is largely dependent on the extent to which drugs are absorbed across the gut and into cells, distributed in the body, metabolized by enzymes, and excreted from the body. The mechanisms of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion are collectively known as ADME. More recently, ecologists have realized that the same ADME mechanisms that define the dose-response relationship of drugs in humans also define the quantity (i.e. dose) of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) herbivores will consume as well as the behavioral or physiological (i.e. toxicological) consequence of ingested PSMs. I will review the progress ecologists have made by using pharmacological techniques to investigate ADME mechanisms in herbivores. I will also highlight several ADME mechanisms that have not received adequate attention and introduce novel uses of pharmacology that could significantly advance the field of plant-herbivore interactions.