Gut tract microorganisms supply the precursors for methyl-branched hydrocarbon biosynthesis in the termite,Zootermopsis nevadensis |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute of Micro/Nano Devices and Solar Cells, School of Physics and Information Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China;2. Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovolatic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, Jiangsu, China;3. Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials Science, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 912, Beijing 100083, People?s Republic of China;1. Section of Respiratory Medicine, S. Maria della Pietà Hospital, Casoria, Naples, Italy;2. Department of Surgery, S. Maria della Pietà Hospital, Casoria, Naples, Italy;3. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Monaldi Hospital, University Federico II of Naples, Italy;4. Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, National Research Council, Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy;1. Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States;2. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States;3. Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States;4. Center for Health Decision Science, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States;5. Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, United States;1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Torino, Italy;2. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, calle José Antonio Novais, 2, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain;1. National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics (NILPRP), Atomistilor 409, PO Box MG-36, Magurele, Bucharest 077125, Romania;2. “Politehnica” University of Bucharest, Physics Department, Independentei 313, Bucharest, Romania;3. “Politehnica” University of Bucharest, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Department of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Gh. Polizu 1-7, Bucharest, Romania;4. National Institute for Materials Physics (NIMP), Atomistilor 105bis, PO Box MG7, R-077125 Magurele, Bucharest, Romania;5. “Babes-Boyai” University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Electrochemical Research Laboratory, 11 Arany Janos Street, Cluj-Napoca 400028, Romania |
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| Abstract: | In vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to examine the role of succinate and other potential precursors of the methylmalonyl-CoA used for methyl-branched hydrocarbon biosynthesis in the termite Zootermopsis nevadensis. The in vivo incorporation of 1,4-14C]succinate and 2,3-14C]succinate into hydrocarbon confirmed that succinate is a direct precursor to the methyl branch unit. The other likely precursors, the branched chain amino acids valine and isoleucine, were not efficiently incorporated into hydrocarbon. Carbon-13 NMR showed that one of the labeled carbons of 1,4-13C]succinate labeled position 6 of 5-methylalkanes and positions 6 and 18 of 5,17-dimethylalkanes, indicating that succinate, as a methylmalonyl-CoA unit, was incorporated as the third unit to form 5-methylheneicosane and as both the third and ninth units to form 5,17-dimethylheneicosane. Analysis of organic acids after the in vivo metabolism of 2,3-14C]succinate showed that succinate was converted to propionate and methylmalonate. Labeled succinate injected into the hemolymph was readily taken up by the gut tract. Isolated gut tissue efficiently converted succinate to acetate and propionate, both of which were released into the incubation media. Mitochondria from termite tissue (minus gut tract) converted succinate to methylmalonate and propionate only in the presence of malonic acid, an inhibitor of succinate dehydrogenase. The results of these studies show that while termite mitochondria are able to convert succinate to propionate and methylmalonate, most of the propionate used for methyl-branched hydrocarbon biosynthesis is produced by gut tract microorganisms. The propionate is then presumably transported through the hemolymph to epidermal cells for use in methyl-branched hydrocarbon biosynthesis. |
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