豪猪刺的抗菌特性。

Antibiotic properties of porcupine quills.

机构信息

Biology Department, Queens College, 11367, Flushing, New York.

出版信息

J Chem Ecol. 1990 Mar;16(3):725-34. doi: 10.1007/BF01016483.

Abstract

Porcupine quills possess antibiotic properties. The antibiotic activity is associated with free fatty acids (but not neutral lipids) coating the quills. Extracts of quill fatty acids strongly inhibited the growth of six grampositive bacterial strains. No growth inhibition was observed against four gram-negative strains. Free fatty acids made up 18.6% of total quill lipids in samples collected in the summer, and 5.5% of total lipid in samples collected in the winter. The fatty acids were separated and identified (as the methyl esters) by gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Major components of a complex mixture included 14-methylpentadecanoic, 9-hexadecenoic, hexadecanoic, and 9-octadecenoic acids. It is suggested that porcupines benefit from the quill fatty acids: evidence from healed fractures of major skeletal components (35.1% incidence in 37 skeletons examined) suggests that porcupines fall relatively frequently from trees. Quill antibiotics may limit self-injury suffered in such falls.

摘要

豪猪的刺具有抗生素特性。这种抗生素活性与覆盖在刺上的游离脂肪酸（而不是中性脂质）有关。刺脂肪酸的提取物强烈抑制了六种革兰氏阳性菌的生长。而对四种革兰氏阴性菌则没有观察到生长抑制。在夏季采集的样本中，游离脂肪酸占总刺脂质的 18.6%，在冬季采集的样本中占总脂质的 5.5%。脂肪酸通过气液色谱和质谱法进行了分离和鉴定（作为甲酯）。复杂混合物的主要成分包括 14-甲基十五烷酸、9-十六烯酸、十六烷酸和 9-十八烯酸。这表明豪猪从刺中的脂肪酸中受益：从主要骨骼成分的愈合骨折（在 37 个检查的骨骼中发生率为 35.1%）的证据表明，豪猪相对频繁地从树上掉落。刺中的抗生素可能会限制它们在这种坠落中受到的自我伤害。