Pharmacological potential of ants and their symbionts – a review

Agarwal, Surbhi; Sharma, Garima; Verma, Kavita; Latha, N.; Mathur, V. K.

doi:10.1111/eea.13236

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 191 publications

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“…The diversity of peptides found in ant venoms shows that they represent powerful weapons that, when injected into prey or predators, cause a wide variety of effects, ensuring the survival of ants in the majority of ecosystems in the world [ 1 ]. These peptides, when isolated, could be used in several biotechnological applications, such as the treatment of diseases (e.g., arthritis and infections), along with food conservation and pest control in agriculture [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial Peptide Arsenal Predicted from the Venom Gland Transcriptome of the Tropical Trap-Jaw Ant Odontomachus chelifer

Menk,

Matuhara,

Sebestyen-França

et al. 2023

Toxins

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With about 13,000 known species, ants are the most abundant venomous insects. Their venom consists of polypeptides, enzymes, alkaloids, biogenic amines, formic acid, and hydrocarbons. In this study, we investigated, using in silico techniques, the peptides composing a putative antimicrobial arsenal from the venom gland of the neotropical trap-jaw ant Odontomachus chelifer. Focusing on transcripts from the body and venom gland of this insect, it was possible to determine the gland secretome, which contained about 1022 peptides with putative signal peptides. The majority of these peptides (75.5%) were unknown, not matching any reference database, motivating us to extract functional insights via machine learning-based techniques. With several complementary methodologies, we investigated the existence of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in the venom gland of O. chelifer, finding 112 non-redundant candidates. Candidate AMPs were predicted to be more globular and hemolytic than the remaining peptides in the secretome. There is evidence of transcription for 97% of AMP candidates across the same ant genus, with one of them also verified as translated, thus supporting our findings. Most of these potential antimicrobial sequences (94.8%) matched transcripts from the ant’s body, indicating their role not solely as venom toxins.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial Peptide Arsenal Predicted from the Venom Gland Transcriptome of the Tropical Trap-Jaw Ant Odontomachus chelifer

Menk,

Matuhara,

Sebestyen-França

et al. 2023

Toxins

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“…On the other hand, some ant species have medical significance due to their potential as carriers of pathogens ( Olivera and Porras-Villamil 2021 ). Nevertheless, certain ant species are of importance in the pharmaceutical industry because they contain various compounds, such as antimicrobial peptides, biogenic amines, alkaloids and flavonoids, which are used for the treatment of various diseases, including asthma, cancer and microbial infections ( Agarwal et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants of Mexico: Distribution and species richness in environments with varying levels of human impact

Rodríguez de León,

Venegas Barrera,

Gaona García

et al. 2023

BDJ

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Anthropogenic disturbance, primarily driven by land-use changes, has caused alterations in ecosystems and biodiversity, including the ant community. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the current landscape of ant species richness and distribution in environments with varying degrees of disturbance in Mexico. Additionally, we sought to identify ant species of ecological, economic and health significance within the country. The present study shows that Mexico has a total of 33,286 records of 1,104 ant species belonging to 10 subfamilies. These species were recorded in a wide variety of environments with different levels of human impact. It was observed that both highly-disturbed environments and undisturbed environments had the highest number of ant records. In undisturbed environments, greater species richness was recorded, with a total of 704 species. Furthermore, the most representative ant species for the country were identified in ecological, economic and human health contexts. Within these species, a group composed of four exotic species (Tapinoma melanocephalum, Paratrechina longicornis, Wasmannia auropunctata and Linepithema humile) deserves special attention, as they have achieved extensive dispersion throughout the country and have been associated with negative impacts in ecological, economic and human health realms.

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“…These properties of insects suggest that it could be used as a source of therapeutic agent (Yamuna and Raja, 2019). Generally, Order of Hymenoptera, (family: Formicidae), for example, ants play a vital role in both the food and pharmacological sectors because of its therapeutic qualities (Agarwal et al, 2022). The therapeutic properties are due to the presence of antioxidant capacity, bioactive peptides, defensive secretion (venom), bioactive compounds (alkaloids), and antimicrobial peptides (Supplementary Table S2).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The therapeutic properties are due to the presence of antioxidant capacity, bioactive peptides, defensive secretion (venom), bioactive compounds (alkaloids), and antimicrobial peptides (Supplementary Table S2). Particularly, ants have been utilised as traditional and modern medicine for the treatment of several diseases such as arthritis, asthma, cancer, and other microbial infections (Agarwal et al, 2022). Antioxidants are substances that are responsible to delay the cell damage caused by attacking from free radicals that released from body as an anti-pressure to environment (Aziz et al, 2022).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Ants are known to contain toxic compounds that can cause severe pain, vomiting, nausea, cardiac arrhythmias, and diaphoresis in humans as a result of envenomation caused by the ants (Agarwal et al, 2022). According to Tani et al (2019), venom of ants is composed of >75 different chemical compounds, including enzymes (venom dipeptidyl peptidases, hyaluronidase, phospholipase, and, etc.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Edible black ant Smith (Carebara vidua) as human food – A systematic review

Siddiqui,

Ho,

Adimulam

et al. 2024

J. Insects Food Feed

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Meeting food security is one of the major global challenges to ensure sufficient supply of food for current and future generations, considering increasing population growth and climate change issues. Consequently, the consumption of edible insects as an alternative food source has recently gained global attention for combating global food insecurity. The present review aims to provide information on the recent progress in consumption of edible black ant Smith, particularly Carebara vidua, as the main focus. The global consumption record of edible black ant Smith and consumer acceptance as well as the strategies used to increase consumer acceptance of eating edible black ant smith were proposed. In addition, the bioecology of black ant Smith was covered in this review. Further, details are provided in this review on the benefits to health, economy, and environment of practicing eating edible insects such as black ant Smith. Focus on the potential uses of Carebara vidua as a food ingredient in culinary cuisine and their safety concerns from rearing until processing were highlighted. The SCOPUS database was analysed using bibliometric software to understand the connections between recent scientific outputs and ant as human food thoroughly. BioRender software was used to create scientific figures. It is noteworthy to highlight that black ant smith contains high protein and micronutrient, especially iron and zinc are higher than that of plant-, animal-based food, and seafood that contribute significantly to meeting the daily protein and mineral intake amount for human. Moreover, the exhibition of antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of edible black ant smith suggests that it can be used as a future functional ingredients for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics purposes. Hence, edible black ant smith is promising as an alternative and potential source of food or medicine for sustainable food security.

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Pharmacological potential of ants and their symbionts – a review

Cited by 8 publications

References 191 publications

Antimicrobial Peptide Arsenal Predicted from the Venom Gland Transcriptome of the Tropical Trap-Jaw Ant Odontomachus chelifer

Antimicrobial Peptide Arsenal Predicted from the Venom Gland Transcriptome of the Tropical Trap-Jaw Ant Odontomachus chelifer

Ants of Mexico: Distribution and species richness in environments with varying levels of human impact

Edible black ant Smith (Carebara vidua) as human food – A systematic review

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