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Secondary Metabolites Released by The Burying Beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides: Chemical Analyses and Possible Ecological Functions

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Abstract

Burying beetles of the genus Nicrophorus localize small vertebrate carcasses by emitted volatiles. The carcass that serves as reproduction and breeding site is buried in the soil by the beetles. Biparental care for offspring includes both preservation of the carrion and its preparation as diet and nursery. Buried carcasses show no signs of microbial decay, and those experimentally treated with Nicrophorus secretions are known to grow fewer bacteria and fungi. In order to investigate the chemical composition of these secretions, we used GC-MS for analysis of methanolic extracts of anal and oral secretions released by adult N. vespilloides. Furthermore, we analyzed the headspace of adult N. vespilloides by SPME-GC-MS and searched for compounds with known antimicrobial activity. We identified 34 compounds in the headspace, and anal and oral secretions, 26 of which occurred consistently. We discuss the ecological relevance of these compounds with respect to both their antimicrobial activity and ecological relevance.

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Notes

  1. The genus was first described as N i crophorus by Fabricius in 1775. It appears that the same name was used by Fabricius several times subsequently. By contrast, the etymologically more meaningful name N e crophorus (gr.: ‘corpse carrier’) describes a habit characteristic for this genus. Nevertheless, assuming N i crophorus to be an incorrect transliteration, a change to N e crophorus would lead to a violation of the priority rule (Herman, 1964). Thus, the name N e crophorus must no longer be considered valid (Herman, 1964; Peck and Miller, 1982). Despite this, the latter spelling was still predominant in literature until the early 1990s.

  2. (+)- and (−)-2-methylbutyric acid could not be separated under the GC conditions applied.

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Acknowledgements

The support of this study by the Erwin-Stein-Foundation (Giessen, Germany) through a grant to Thomas Degenkolb is gratefully acknowledged. The study was supported by the Hessian Ministry for Science and Art by a grant from the LOEWE-Research Focus AmbiProbe to Rolf-Alexander Düring and Andreas Vilcinskas. We are indebted to Josef K. Müller and Wolf Haberer (University of Freiburg, Germany) for providing parasite-free Nicrophorus vespilloides. Trinad Chakraborty (University of Giessen, Germany) provided mouse carcasses. The comments of Monika Wimmer-Röll and Dirk Preuß (both from University of Giessen), and Hartmut Laatsch (University of Göttingen) improved the quality of our manuscript. This work would not have been possible without the technical assistance of Janusz Czynski (University of Giessen). We thank Rod Snowdon (University of Giessen) for language editing of the manuscript.

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  1. Institute of Phytopathology and Applied Zoology, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26–32, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Thomas Degenkolb & Andreas Vilcinskas

  2. Institute of Soil Science and Soil Conservation, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26–32, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Rolf-Alexander Düring

  3. Fraunhofer Institute of Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Winchesterstraße 2, 35394, Giessen, Germany

    Andreas Vilcinskas

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  1. Thomas Degenkolb
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Degenkolb, T., Düring, RA. & Vilcinskas, A. Secondary Metabolites Released by The Burying Beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides: Chemical Analyses and Possible Ecological Functions. J Chem Ecol 37, 724–735 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-011-9978-4

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