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Unique metabolites protect earthworms against plant polyphenols

Overview of attention for article published in Nature Communications, August 2015
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (97th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
25 news outlets
blogs
7 blogs
twitter
61 X users
facebook
2 Facebook pages
wikipedia
2 Wikipedia pages
video
1 YouTube creator

Citations

dimensions_citation
72 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
170 Mendeley
Title
Unique metabolites protect earthworms against plant polyphenols
Published in
Nature Communications, August 2015
DOI 10.1038/ncomms8869
Pubmed ID
Authors

Manuel Liebeke, Nicole Strittmatter, Sarah Fearn, A. John Morgan, Peter Kille, Jens Fuchser, David Wallis, Vitalii Palchykov, Jeremy Robertson, Elma Lahive, David J. Spurgeon, David McPhail, Zoltán Takáts, Jacob G. Bundy

Abstract

All higher plants produce polyphenols, for defence against above-ground herbivory. These polyphenols also influence the soil micro- and macro-fauna 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.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 61 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 170 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 4 2%
Japan 2 1%
United Kingdom 1 <1%
France 1 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
Iceland 1 <1%
Unknown 160 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 42 25%
Researcher 42 25%
Student > Master 18 11%
Other 11 6%
Professor 9 5%
Other 32 19%
Unknown 16 9%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 69 41%
Environmental Science 27 16%
Chemistry 20 12%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 14 8%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 4 2%
Other 14 8%
Unknown 22 13%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 274. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 29 March 2021.
All research outputs
#132,081
of 25,587,485 outputs
Outputs from Nature Communications
#1,882
of 57,732 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,325
of 276,358 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature Communications
#20
of 784 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,587,485 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 57,732 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 55.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 276,358 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 784 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.