Title: | Identification of Chaoborus kairomone chemicals that induce defences in Daphnia |
Author(s): | Weiss LC; Albada B; Becker SM; Meckelmann SW; Klein J; Meyer M; Schmitz OJ; Sommer U; Leo M; Zagermann J; Metzler-Nolte N; Tollrian R; |
Address: | "Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. Inorganic Chemistry 1-Bioinorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Applied Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany. NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility Metabolomics Node (NBAF-B), School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. tollrian@rub.de" |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41589-018-0164-7 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1552-4469 (Electronic) 1552-4450 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Infochemicals play important roles in aquatic ecosystems. They even modify food web interactions, such as by inducing defenses in prey. In one classic but still not fully understood example, the planktonic freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulex forms specific morphological defenses (neckteeth) induced by chemical cues (kairomones) released from its predator, the phantom midge larva Chaoborus. On the basis of liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and chemical synthesis, we report here the chemical identity of the Chaoborus kairomone. The biologically active cues consist of fatty acids conjugated to the amino group of glutamine via the N terminus. These cues are involved in Chaoborus digestive processes, which explains why they are consistently released despite the disadvantage for its emitter. The identification of the kairomone may allow in-depth studies on multiple aspects of this inducible defense system" |
Keywords: | "Animals Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods Daphnia/*drug effects/*physiology Diptera/*chemistry Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Glutamine/chemistry High-Throughput Screening Assays/methods Larva Lipids/chemistry Mass Spectrometry/methods Pherom;" |
Notes: | "MedlineWeiss, Linda C Albada, Bauke Becker, Sina M Meckelmann, Sven W Klein, Julia Meyer, Martin Schmitz, Oliver J Sommer, Ulf Leo, Markus Zagermann, Johannes Metzler-Nolte, Nils Tollrian, Ralph eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2018/11/16 Nat Chem Biol. 2018 Dec; 14(12):1133-1139. doi: 10.1038/s41589-018-0164-7. Epub 2018 Nov 14" |