Gramine Explained

Gramine (also called donaxine) is a naturally occurring indole alkaloid present in several plant species. Gramine may play a defensive role in these plants, since it is toxic to many organisms.^[1]

Occurrence

Gramine has been found in the giant reed, Arundo donax,^[2] Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple),^[3] Hordeum,^[1] (a grass genus that includes barley) and Phalaris^[4] (another grass genus).

Effects and toxicity

Gramine has been found to act as an agonist of the adiponectin receptor 1 (AdipoR1).^[5]

The LD50 of gramine is 44.6 mg/ kg iv in mice and 62.9 mg/ kg iv in rats.^[6] Numerous studies have been done on the toxicity of gramine to insects harmful to crops in order to assess its potential use as an insecticide.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Corcuera, L. J. . Biochemical Basis of the Resistance of the Barley to Aphids . . 1993 . 33 . 4 . 741–747 . 10.1016/0031-9422(93)85267-U.
2. Über die Alkaloide von Arundo Donax L. . Orechoff, A. . Norkina, S. . . 1935 . 68 . 3 . 436–437 . 10.1002/cber.19350680312.
3. Pachter, I. J. . Zacharias, D. E. . Ribeiro, O. . Indole Alkaloids of Acer saccharinum (the Silver Maple), Dictyoloma incanescens, Piptadenia colubrina, and Mimosa hostilis . . 1959 . 24 . 9 . 1285–1287 . 10.1021/jo01091a032.
4. Book: Toxicants of Plant Origin, Alkaloids . 172 . Cheeke, P. R. . CRC Press . 1989 . 0-8493-6990-8 .
5. Sun Y, Zang Z, Zhong L, Wu M, Su Q, Gao X, Zan W, Lin D, Zhao Y, Zhang Z . Identification of adiponectin receptor agonist utilizing a fluorescence polarization based high throughput assay . PLOS ONE . 8 . 5 . e63354 . 2013 . 23691032 . 3653934 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0063354. 2013PLoSO...863354S . free .
6. Erspamer, V. . Pharmacology of Indolealkylamines . Pharmacological Reviews . 1954 . 6 . 4 . 425–487 . 13236482 .
7. Corcuera, L. J. . Effects of Indole Alkaloids from Gramineae on Aphids . Phytochemistry . 1984 . 23 . 3 . 539–541 . 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)80376-3.