Institute of Zoology, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Biology, Studentski Trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; Faculty of Technology Zvornik, University of East Sarajevo, Karakaj 34a, 75400 Zvornik, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski Trg 12-16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
J Insect Physiol. 2024 Jun;155:104649. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2024.104649. Epub 2024 May 15.
Chemical substances are of utmost importance for the biotic interactions between animals and their predators/parasites; many of these semiochemicals are emitted for defence purposes. One of the most deterrent and toxic biogenic substances we know of is hydrogen cyanide, which can be stored by certain insects, millipedes, centipedes and arachnids in the form of stable and less volatile molecules. The aim of this study was to analyse the biology and chemistry of such a defence mechanism in a geophilomorph centipede (Chilopoda). The cyanogenic secretion of Clinopodes flavidus is discharged from the ventral glands, whose glandular units are located in the space between the cuticle and the trunk muscles and do not extend deep into the segment. In addition to hydrogen cyanide, the ventral secretion contains 2-methylpentanoic acid, benzaldehyde, benzoyl cyanide, 2-methyl branched C-9 carboxylic acid (tentatively identified as 2-methyloctanoic acid), methyl 2-phenylacetate, benzoic acid and mandelonitrile as well as four major proteins with a molecular weight of 150, 66.2, 59 and 55 kDa. The correlation between the presence of ventral glands and guarding with the female's ventral side facing away from the eggs and young indicates a functional link between these two traits. We hope that the specificity of the chemical composition of the ventral secretion could serve as a criterion for chemotaxonomy and that the analysis of more species will help to clarify the phylogenetic relationships within the Geophilomorpha.
化学物质对于动物与其捕食者/寄生虫之间的生物相互作用至关重要；其中许多信息素是出于防御目的而释放的。我们所知道的最具威慑力和毒性的生物源物质之一是氢氰酸，某些昆虫、多足类、蜈蚣和蛛形纲动物可以将其以稳定且挥发性较低的分子形式储存起来。本研究的目的是分析一种节肢动物（唇足纲）中这种防御机制的生物学和化学特性。Chilopoda 属 Clinopodes flavidus 的氰化物分泌物是从腹腺中排出的，其腺体单元位于表皮和体壁肌肉之间的空间中，并不深入到体节内部。除了氢氰酸外，腹部分泌物还含有 2-甲基戊酸、苯甲醛、苯甲酰氰、2-甲基支链 C-9 羧酸（暂定鉴定为 2-甲基辛酸）、甲基 2-苯基乙酸酯、苯甲酸和扁桃腈，以及四种主要的蛋白质，分子量分别为 150、66.2、59 和 55 kDa。腹腺的存在与雌性将腹侧朝向远离卵和幼体的行为之间存在相关性，这表明这两个特征之间存在功能联系。我们希望腹部分泌物的化学成分的特异性可以作为化学分类学的标准，并且对更多物种的分析将有助于阐明 Geophilomorpha 内部的系统发育关系。
