Workers and alate queens of Solenopsis geminata share qualitatively similar but quantitatively different venom alkaloid chemistry
Workers and alate queens of Solenopsis geminata share qualitatively similar but quantitatively different venom alkaloid chemistry
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DOI：
10.3389/fevo.2015.00076
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发表时间：
2015-01-01
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Chen, Li
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Shi, Qun-Hui;Hu, Lin;Chen, Li
双火蚁群（膜翅目：蚁科）包括蚁种，通常被称为火蚁，因为它们的刺痛。毒液的许多生理作用是由2-甲基-6-烷基和/或烯基胡椒碱生物碱引起的。胡椒碱生物碱结构的变异具有有用的分类特征。研究最充分的扶桑属物种是扶桑属，它是在20世纪30年代偶然从南美洲进口到美国的。它迅速蔓延到整个美国南部，现在是美国和世界其他地区的主要入侵害虫蚂蚁。有趣的是，入侵的火蚁在很大程度上取代了来自美国南部的本土火蚁S. geminata。我们探索毒液化学的差异可能与这种位移相关的可能性。采用硅胶层析法分离了双翅虫工蜂和翅虫后体提取物中的顺式和反式生物碱，并进行了鉴定和GC-MS定量分析。工蜂和酸蜂主要产生顺式和反式2-甲基-6-n-十一基哌啶，以及其他少量的生物碱成分。外来火蚁（S. invicta）的alate蚁后产生的生物碱与双翅火蚁（S. geminata）的alate蚁后产生的生物碱相同，但invicta工蚁产生的胡椒碱具有更长的侧链，据称在生理上更有效。这些结果与火蚁毒液生物碱的进化过程以及火蚁在美国被火蚁取代的关系进行了讨论。
Solenopsis geminata group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) encompasses ant species commonly called fire ants because of their painful sting. The many physiological effects of the venom are caused by 2-methyl-6-alkyl and/or alkenylpiperidine alkaloids. The variation in piperidine alkaloid structures has useful taxonomic characters. The most well studied Solenopsis species is Solenopsis invicta, which was accidentally imported into the USA in the 1930s from South America. It quickly spread throughout the southern USA and is now a major invasive pest ant in the USA and in other parts of the world. Interestingly, the invasive S. invicta has largely displaced a native USA fire ant, S. geminata, from the southern USA. We explore the possibility that differences in venom chemistry could be correlated with this displacement. The cis and trans alkaloids from body extracts of workers and alate queens of S. geminata were separated by silica gel chromatography, identified, and quantitated by GC-MS analysis. Both workers and alate queens produce primarily cis- and trans-2-methyl-6-n-undecylpiperidines, as well as other minor alkaloid components. Imported fire ant, S. invicta, alate queens produce the same alkaloids as S. geminata alate queens, but in contrast S. invicta workers produce piperidine alkaloids with longer side chains, which are purported to be physiologically more effective. These results are discussed in relation to the evolutionary progression of fire ant venom alkaloids and displacement of S. geminata by S. invicta in the USA.