Xu Tian, Zhang Nuo, Xu Meng, Glauser Gaetan, Turlings Ted C J, Chen Li
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
School of Life Sciences, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei Province, China.
Insect Sci. 2023 Feb;30(1):161-172. doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.13047. Epub 2022 May 16.
Ants use species-specific trail pheromones to coordinate their sophisticated foraging behavior. During the past decades, many trail pheromone components with various structures have been identified in ants, including the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, a notorious invasive species worldwide. Four compounds, Z,E- (ZEF) and E,E-α-farnesene (EEF), Z,E- (ZEHF) and E,E-α-homofarnesene (EEHF), have been reported as components of S. invicta trail pheromone. However, another study reported an analog of α-farnesene, Z,Z,Z-allofarnesene, as a key trail pheromone component. These contrasting results caused some uncertainty about the trail pheromone composition in S. invicta. In this study, we synthesized ZEF and EEF, ZEHF and EEHF, and reanalyzed the chemicals in the Dufour gland extract and in the trail pheromone fraction of S. invicta worker body extract. The reported isomers of farnesene and homofarnesene were detected and showed trail-following activity, with ZEF as the major compound, while no allofarnesene was found, neither in the Dufour gland extract nor in the whole-body extract. Our results confirm ZEF and EEF, ZEHF and EEHF as trail pheromone components of S. invicta.
蚂蚁利用物种特异性的踪迹信息素来协调其复杂的觅食行为。在过去几十年里，在蚂蚁中已鉴定出许多具有不同结构的踪迹信息素成分，其中包括红火蚁，即臭名昭著的全球入侵物种入侵红火蚁（Solenopsis invicta）。已报道四种化合物，即Z,E-α-法尼烯（ZEF）和E,E-α-法尼烯（EEF）、Z,E-α-高法尼烯（ZEHF）和E,E-α-高法尼烯（EEHF）是入侵红火蚁踪迹信息素的成分。然而，另一项研究报道α-法尼烯的类似物Z,Z,Z-别法尼烯是一种关键的踪迹信息素成分。这些相互矛盾的结果使得入侵红火蚁踪迹信息素的组成存在一些不确定性。在本研究中，我们合成了ZEF和EEF、ZEHF和EEHF，并重新分析了入侵红火蚁工蚁杜氏腺提取物以及工蚁身体提取物的踪迹信息素部分中的化学物质。检测到了已报道的法尼烯和高法尼烯异构体，并显示出追踪踪迹的活性，其中ZEF是主要化合物，而在杜氏腺提取物和全身提取物中均未发现别法尼烯。我们的结果证实了ZEF和EEF、ZEHF和EEHF是入侵红火蚁的踪迹信息素成分。
