The chemical composition of the secretions, their antibacterial activity, and the pygidial gland morphology of selected European Carabini ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Ecology and Evolution

Nikola Vesović¹  Sofija Vranić¹  Tamara Janakiev¹  Srećko Ćurčić¹  Ivica Dimkić¹  Marija Nenadić¹  Ljubodrag Vujisić²  Marina Todosijević²  Ljiljana Mihajlović³  Katarina M. Milinčić⁴  Danijela Ž. Vukoičić⁵  Nina B. Ćurčić⁶  Nataša Stevanović⁷ 

[1] Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia;Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia;Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia;Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia;Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia;Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić”, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia;Đerdap National Park, Working Unit in Tekija, Tekija, Serbia;

关键词: carabids;    GC–MS;    exocrine glands;    antibacterial activity;    broth microdilution;    allomones;    chemical defence;    semiochemistry;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fevo.2023.1120006

 received in 2022-12-09, accepted in 2023-01-27,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The pygidial glands of carabids produce strong-smelling vapours. In this study, we examined the chemical composition of the gland secretions and the structure of the glands in five species of Carabini ground beetles (one species from the subtribe Calosomatina and four species from the subtribe Carabina): Calosoma (Calosoma) maderae (Fabricius, 1775), Carabus (Carabus) granulatus Linnaeus, 1758, C. (Limnocarabus) clathratus Linnaeus, 1760, C. (Carabus) ulrichii Germar, 1823, and C. (Procerus) gigas Creutzer, 1799. Additionally, we tested the antibacterial potential of the pygidial gland secretions of the two latter species against 11 bacterial strains. In order to detect the chemical content of the secretions, we used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The secretion extracts were applied against selected strains of medically important bacteria. We used bright-field microscopy to examine the morphology of the glands. We discovered a total of 11 chemical compounds in the pygidial gland extracts of the ground beetles we analysed. Ten of these compounds were identified as seven carboxylic acids, two hydrocarbons, and one aromatic aldehyde, while one chemical remained unidentified. Most of the components were isolated from the secretion of C. (L.) clathratus (nine), while the lowest number of compounds was found in C. (P.) gigas (two). Methacrylic acid was the most dominant compound by percentage in all five species, while angelic acid was also detected in all samples. As expected, salicylaldehyde was exclusively found in the species of the genus Calosoma Weber, 1801. The secretion of C. (P.) gigas was shown to achieve the highest level of antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica, and S. typhimurium (even the same level as the positive control streptomycin), while the secretion of C. (C.) ulrichii achieved the highest antimicrobial potential against Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus. The most noticeable difference in the structure of the glands between the two genera is that the reservoir in Calosoma is more significantly narrowed as it leads into the efferent duct, compared to that of Carabus.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Vesović, Nenadić, Vranić, Vujisić, Milinčić, Todosijević, Dimkić, Janakiev, Ćurčić, Stevanović, Mihajlović, Vukoičić and Ćurčić.