Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41078793›Full record

ArticleACS omega2025

The Source of Firefly Chemical Defenses: Endogenous Biosynthesis of Lucibufagins from Cholesterol.

Scott R Smedley, Kathareeya K Medeiros, Maha Gaber, Nicole R Howells, David A Posner, Faizan U Rahim, Leif D Deyrup, Stephen T Deyrup

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in ACS omega, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Scott R SmedleyDepartment of Biology, Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106, United States.
Kathareeya K MedeirosDepartment of Biology, Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106, United States.
Maha GaberDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, New York 12211, United States.
Nicole R HowellsDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, New York 12211, United States.
David A PosnerDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, New York 12211, United States.
Faizan U RahimDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, New York 12211, United States.
Leif D DeyrupDepartment of Biology, University of the Cumberlands, 6191 College Station Dr, Williamsburg, Kentucky 40769, United States.
Stephen T DeyrupDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, New York 12211, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1851-5593

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, are beetles in the family Lampyridae. Several species of North American fireflies have been investigated to determine their toxic components. The primary molecules that act as chemical defenses are steroids in the bufadienolide class, called lucibufagins (LBGs). However, whether fireflies sequester LBGs from a food source or biosynthesize them de novo has remained unclear. Here, we utilize a laboratory culture of a North American firefly,

Identifiers

PMID41078793
PMCPMC12509117

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.