The lack of chiral specificity in a termite queen pheromone.
The lack of chiral specificity in a termite queen pheromone.
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白蚁蚁后信息素缺乏手性特异性。
DOI：
10.1111/j.1365-3032.2011.00806.x
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发表时间：
2012
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
Tohru Kobayashi and Kenji Matsuura
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Yuuka Yamamoto; Tohru Kobayashi and Kenji Matsuura
许多群居昆虫的蜂后产生信息素，影响群体成员的行为和生理。蜂后分泌的信息素一直被认为是抑制新生殖个体分化的主要因素。一种挥发性信息素，由正丁基-正丁酸盐和2 -甲基- 1 -丁醇混合而成，其中含有一种抑制雌性幼期生殖（次级蚁后）分化的蚁后信息素。2‐甲基‐1‐丁醇是第一个在群居昆虫中被鉴定为引物信息素的手性分子，这提出了一个有趣的问题，即对映体组成是否在种姓调节中起作用。在本研究中，我们报道了(R)‐和(S)‐对映体以及2‐甲基‐1‐丁醇的外消旋混合物在正丁基‐正丁酸酯联合作用下对新雌幼体的分化有显著的抑制作用，而它们之间的抑制活性没有显著差异。这些结果表明，白蚁识别2‐甲基‐1‐丁醇作为一个女王信号，但它们不区分对映体的立体结构。
The queens of many social insects produce pheromones that influence the behaviour and physiology of colony members. Pheromones produced by queens have long been considered as the prime factor inhibiting the differentiation of new reproductive individuals. A volatile pheromone consisting of a blend ofn‐butyl‐n‐butyrate and 2‐methyl‐1‐butanol comprises a queen pheromone that inhibits the differentiation of female neotenic reproductives (secondary queens) of a termiteReticulitermes speratus. 2‐Methyl‐1‐butanol is the first chiral molecule to be identified as a primer pheromone in social insects, which presents the intriguing question of whether enantiomeric composition plays a role in caste regulation. In the present study, we report that the (R)‐ and (S)‐enantiomers and the racemic mixture of 2‐methyl‐1‐butanol show significant inhibitory effects on the differentiation of new female neotenics in combination withn‐butyl‐n‐butyrate, whereas no significant difference in inhibitory activity is observed among them. These results suggests that termites recognize 2‐methyl‐1‐butanol as a queen signal but they do not distinguish between the stereostructures of the enantiomers.