Elucidation of the unexplored biodiversity of ant venom peptidomes via MALDI–TOF mass spectrometry and its application for chemotaxonomy

Touchard, Axel; Dauvois, Mélodie; Arguel, Marie-Jeanne; Petitclerc, Frédéric; Leblanc, Mathieu; Déjean, Alain; Orivel, Jérôme; Nicholson, Graham M.; Escoubas, Pierre

doi:10.1016/j.jprot.2014.01.009

Cited by 34 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…However, advances in the development of miniaturized bioassays and improvements in the sensitivity of mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy now allow broader investigations of the small quantities of venom peptides provided by small animals, especially ants. Indeed, mass spectrometry has been used as a method to improve the accuracy of taxonomic findings to reveal cryptic ant species within species complexes (Touchard et al, 2014a). This chemotaxonomic tool can therefore contribute to more rapid species identification and more accurate taxonomies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, proteinaceous venoms remain highly understudied despite the fact that they appear to be very common in both the Poneroid and Formicoid clades of ant venoms. Thus, venoms from Poneroid ants have been shown to be rich in peptides especially venoms from the subfamilies Ponerinae (Cologna et al, 2013;Johnson et al, 2010;Torres et al, 2014;Touchard et al, 2014a) and Paraponerinae (Piek et al, 1991a(Piek et al, , 1991bRykaczewska-Czerwinska et al, 2008). Peptides have also been characterized from the venoms of Formicoid ants belonging to the subfamilies Myrmicinae (Bouzid et al, 2013;Rifflet et al, 2012), Myrmeciinae (Davies et al, 2004;Inagaki et al, 2004Inagaki et al, , 2008aLewis et al, 1968;Mackintosh et al, 1998;Wiese et al, 2006;Wu et al, 1998), Pseudomyrmecinae (Touchard et al, 2014b) and Ectatomminae Nolde et al, 1995;Pluzhnikov et al, 1999).…”

Section: Ant Venom Peptidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversity of peptide toxins from stinging ant venoms

Aili

Touchard

Escoubas³

et al. 2014

Toxicon

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Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) represent a taxonomically diverse group of arthropods comprising nearly 13,000 extant species. Sixteen ant subfamilies have individuals that possess a stinger and use their venom for purposes such as a defence against predators, competitors and microbial pathogens, for predation, as well as for social communication. They exhibit a range of activities including antimicrobial, haemolytic, cytolytic, paralytic, insecticidal and pain-producing pharmacologies. While ant venoms are known to be rich in alkaloids and hydrocarbons, ant venoms rich in peptides are becoming more common, yet remain understudied. Recent advances in mass spectrometry techniques have begun to reveal the true complexity of ant venom peptide composition. In the few venoms explored thus far, most peptide toxins appear to occur as small polycationic linear toxins, with antibacterial properties and insecticidal activity. Unlike other venomous animals, a number of ant venoms also contain a range of homodimeric and heterodimeric peptides with one or two interchain disulfide bonds possessing pore-forming, allergenic and paralytic actions. However, ant venoms seem to have only a small number of monomeric disulfide-linked peptides. The present review details the structure and pharmacology of known ant venom peptide toxins and their potential as a source of novel bioinsecticides and therapeutic agents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ant Venom Peptidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of peptide toxins from stinging ant venoms

Aili

Touchard

Escoubas³

et al. 2014

Toxicon

Self Cite

100

151

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show abstract

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that toxins (peptide and alkaloids) in ant venoms can be used as chemotaxonomic markers in order to identify species but also to reveal cryptic ant species (Fox et al 2012;Touchard et al 2014). Thus, the observed intraspecific variation in the venom composition of Odontomachus haematodus might also result from the presence of cryptic species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As they have been little studied, ant venom peptides represent a potentially promising source of bioactive molecules with novel scaffolds and original pharmacological activities. Previous studies (Aili et al 2014;Touchard et al 2014;Touchard et al 2015) have demonstrated that the venoms of stinging ants are mostly comprised of small peptides, similarly to spider, scorpion and cone snail venoms. A limited number of peptidic toxins from several ant subfamilies such as the Ponerinae (Cologna et al 2013;Johnson et al 2010;Orivel et al 2001), Paraponerinae (Piek et al 1991), Ectatomminae (Arseniev et al 1994;Pluzhnikov et al 2000), Myrmicinae (Rifflet et al 2012), Myrmeciinae (Inagaki et al 2004;Inagaki et al 2008) and Pseudomyrmecinae (Pan and Hink 2000) have been characterized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific variations in the venom peptidome of the ant Odontomachus haematodus (Formicidae: Ponerinae) from French Guiana

Touchard¹,

Déjean²,

Escoubas³

et al. 2015

JHR

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Ant venoms are complex cocktails of toxins employed to subdue prey and to protect the colony from predators and microbial pathogens. Although the extent of ant venom peptide diversity remains largely unexplored, previous studies have revealed the presence of numerous bioactive peptides in most stinging ant venoms. We investigated the venom peptidome of the ponerine ant Odontomachus haematodus using LC-MS analysis and then verified whether the division of labor in the colonies and their geographical location are correlated with differences in venom composition. Our results reveal that O. haematodus venom is comprised of 105 small linear peptides. The venom composition does not vary between the different castes (i.e., nurses, foragers and queens), but an intraspecific variation in peptide content was observed, particularly when the colonies are separated by large distances. Geographical variation appears to increase the venom peptide repertoire of this ant species, demonstrating its intraspecific venom plasticity.

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“…By integrating a natural synthetic product approach with classical taxonomic identification, we were able to improve the accuracy of Solenopsis identification. An integrative prespective combining, for example, molecular genetics with natural products, 12 may contribute to solving taxonomic problems in several organisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absolute Configuration of Solenopsis Piperidines is a Tool to Classify Fire Ants (Formicidae:Myrmicinae)

Araújo

Botelho

Trigo

et al. 2017

J. Braz. Chem. Soc.

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Piperidine alkaloids are predominant in ant venom glands of S. invicta and S. saevissima. These ants are broadly sympatric in Southeastern Brazil, and potentially diagnostic compounds could assist in ant identification. We determined the absolute configuration of 2,6-dialkyl-piperidines of S. invicta and S. saevissima workers and used these data to group Southeastern Brazil species. The monitoring of venom samples by chiral gas chromatography coupled to a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) revealed that S. saevissima produces the four stereoisomers of 2-methyl-6-undecylpiperidines, 2-methyl-6-tridecyl-piperidines and 2-methyl-6-tridecenyl-piperidines, while S. invicta venom consisted primarily of a single enantiomer cis and trans from each piperidine alkaloid. Our findings showed that the absolute configuration of piperidine alkaloids of fire ant venom may be a potential chemical tool to distinguish S. invicta and S. saevissima sympatric species in Southeastern Brazil.

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Elucidation of the unexplored biodiversity of ant venom peptidomes via MALDI–TOF mass spectrometry and its application for chemotaxonomy

Cited by 34 publications

References 57 publications

Diversity of peptide toxins from stinging ant venoms

Diversity of peptide toxins from stinging ant venoms

Intraspecific variations in the venom peptidome of the ant Odontomachus haematodus (Formicidae: Ponerinae) from French Guiana

Absolute Configuration of Solenopsis Piperidines is a Tool to Classify Fire Ants (Formicidae:Myrmicinae)

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