Springtails(Collembola),微小的六足节肢动物,在大多数生态系统的土壤中都很丰富,但我们对其次级代谢产物的了解有限,与昆虫相反。在昆虫中,外角质层通常被具有不同功能的长链烃混合物覆盖,如水调节或化学通信。相比之下,关于跳尾鱼的表皮化学的知识很少。我们分析了23种不同谱系的表皮脂质。使用气相色谱/质谱法阐明了通常复杂的结构,微衍生化,和合成。与昆虫相比,萜烯生物合成途径用于许多这些脂质,产生前所未有的更高的萜烯。此外,发现了从头胆固醇生物合成的证据,这在昆虫中是不存在的。最后,鉴定了源自脂肪酸生物合成途径的多种非昆虫线性化合物。我们的比较分析表明与昆虫相比存在明显差异,并阐明了系统发育关系。
Springtails (Collembola), tiny hexapod arthropods, are abundant in the soil of most ecosystems, but our knowledge of their secondary metabolites is limited, in contrast to that of insects. In insects, the outer cuticle is usually covered by mixtures of long-chain hydrocarbons serving different functions, such as water regulation or chemical communication. In contrast, the knowledge of the epicuticular chemistry of springtails is scarce. We analyzed the cuticular lipids of 23 species covering different lineages. The often complicated structures were elucidated using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, microderivatization, and synthesis. In contrast to insects, the terpene biosynthetic pathway is used for many of these lipids, producing unprecedented higher terpenes. In addition, evidence for de novo cholesterol biosynthesis in springtails was found, which is absent in insects. Finally, diverse non-insect linear compounds originating from the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway were identified. Our comparative analysis showed clear differences compared to insects and shed light on phylogenetic relationships.