Volatile compounds emitted by live European honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) queens

We used solid-phase microextraction (SPME, 65 microm PDMS-DVB fiber) to sample the volatile compounds emitted by live honey bee queens in several reproductive states (unmated queens, recently mated queens, and established mated queens), and compared them to the volatiles emitted by workers. We detected nine compounds that were present in at least 75% of the individuals in at least one type of bee, and which were not present in the sampling environment alone. Four of these compounds were present in queens but not in workers. One of these four compounds, identified as E-beta-ocimene, was expressed fully only in established mated queens and may be a signal of diploid egg-laying activity. The three remaining queen-specific compounds (including one identified as 2-phenylethanol) were associated with unmated queens and may mediate interactions between unmated queens and workers during queen elimination. The five common compounds that we detected in both queens and workers were hydrocarbons and may function as nestmate recognition cues. We consider these discoveries as a first step in determining the potentially important functions of volatile signals and cues within honey bee nests.     

Anisakis simplex s.l.: Larvicidal activity of various monoterpenic derivatives of natural origin against L3 larvae in vitro and in vivo

This paper describes the activity against Anisakis simplex s.l. L₃ larvae of six monoterpenic derivatives obtained from different essential oils, (α-pinene, β-pinene, ocimene, myrcene, geranyl acetate, and cineole). In in vitro assays, α-pinene, ocimene and cineole showed high activity at a concentration of 125 μg/mL (48 h) but only α-pinene and ocimene were active at 62.5 μg/mL. In in vivo assays, L₃ larvae and study compounds were simultaneously administered per os to Wistar rats. The most active compound was α-pinene, finding lesions in only 20% of treated rats versus 98% of controls. Further in vivo studies are required to investigate whether addition of these compounds to food could have a prophylactic effect, reducing the pathogenicity of A. simplex s.l. L₃ in humans, and to explore any possible synergy among compounds.     

不同倍性白姜花切花挥发性成分差异分析

为比较二倍体和四倍体白姜花(Hedychium coronarium)切花挥发性成分差异，采用顶空固相微萃取(HS-SPME)和气相色谱-质谱联用(GC-MS)技术测定了二倍体和四倍体白姜花切花初开期、盛开期和初衰期释放物质种类，通过峰面积归一法测定了各成分的相对含量，建立正交偏最小二乘判别分析(OPLS-DA)模型进行主成分分析和变量重要性投影(VIP)分析。结果表明，白姜花切花挥发性成分包含63种萜烯类、40种苯丙素类和22种脂肪酸衍生物类物质；萜烯类物质相对含量大于其他两类，四倍体白姜花在初开和盛开期挥发物质总质量极显著大于二倍体。二倍体与四倍体挥发性成分的组间差距明显，两个倍性组内差距在正常范围内；挥发性成分约63.7%的代表性特征得到较好聚类；优势成分和劣势成分均是两个倍性白姜花差异的重要成分。在盛开期和初衰期，α-罗勒烯是四倍体特有的且相对含量最大的优势成分，β-罗勒烯是二倍体中相对含量最大且显著多于四倍体的优势成分；二倍体和四倍体共有的优势成分和贡献较大的物质是石竹烯、沉香醇、桉树脑、α-金合欢烯和苯甲酸甲酯等。总体上，二倍体白姜花在四倍化过程中挥发性成分种类和总含量增加，相同倍性不同时期的挥发性成分种类和含量也存在差异，白姜花切花的挥发性成分以萜烯类为主。