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Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida)

Increasing evidence in the field of bioprospection fosters the necessity of studying poorly investigated poisonous marine invertebrates to expand knowledge on animal venom biology. Among marine annelids, amphinomid fireworms are notorious for their bearded trunk equipped with a powerful stinging cap...

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Autores principales: Righi, Sara, Forti, Luca, Simonini, Roberto, Ferrari, Valentina, Prevedelli, Daniela, Mucci, Adele
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9504318/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36135774
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md20090585
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author Righi, Sara
Forti, Luca
Simonini, Roberto
Ferrari, Valentina
Prevedelli, Daniela
Mucci, Adele
author_facet Righi, Sara
Forti, Luca
Simonini, Roberto
Ferrari, Valentina
Prevedelli, Daniela
Mucci, Adele
author_sort Righi, Sara
collection PubMed
description Increasing evidence in the field of bioprospection fosters the necessity of studying poorly investigated poisonous marine invertebrates to expand knowledge on animal venom biology. Among marine annelids, amphinomid fireworms are notorious for their bearded trunk equipped with a powerful stinging capacity. Here, a methodological workflow based on analytical chemistry techniques (compound isolation followed by mass spectrometry and spectroscopy analyses) was applied to gain new insights, leading to the identification and structural elucidation of an array of natural products from Mediterranean specimens of Hermodice carunculata. Eight betaine-derived unprecedented compounds, named “carunculines”, were detected, bearing two terminal ammonium groups tri-and disubstituted at the Cα (A, B) and a series of different alkyl chains (I–VIII). The mixture of chemicals was found in all the body parts of H. carunculata, supporting a mechanism of action triggered by their vehiculation inside the dorsal chaetae, and subsequent injection when chaetae break off on contact. Preliminary investigations to understand adaptive features were also performed, showing a trend in carunculine abundance that fits into the evolutionary history of these worms. These findings shed light on the chemical ecology of amphinomids, giving reasons for the success of H. carunculata in benthic environments and providing promising novel metabolites for biotechnological implications.
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spelling pubmed-95043182022-09-24 Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida) Righi, Sara Forti, Luca Simonini, Roberto Ferrari, Valentina Prevedelli, Daniela Mucci, Adele Mar Drugs Article Increasing evidence in the field of bioprospection fosters the necessity of studying poorly investigated poisonous marine invertebrates to expand knowledge on animal venom biology. Among marine annelids, amphinomid fireworms are notorious for their bearded trunk equipped with a powerful stinging capacity. Here, a methodological workflow based on analytical chemistry techniques (compound isolation followed by mass spectrometry and spectroscopy analyses) was applied to gain new insights, leading to the identification and structural elucidation of an array of natural products from Mediterranean specimens of Hermodice carunculata. Eight betaine-derived unprecedented compounds, named “carunculines”, were detected, bearing two terminal ammonium groups tri-and disubstituted at the Cα (A, B) and a series of different alkyl chains (I–VIII). The mixture of chemicals was found in all the body parts of H. carunculata, supporting a mechanism of action triggered by their vehiculation inside the dorsal chaetae, and subsequent injection when chaetae break off on contact. Preliminary investigations to understand adaptive features were also performed, showing a trend in carunculine abundance that fits into the evolutionary history of these worms. These findings shed light on the chemical ecology of amphinomids, giving reasons for the success of H. carunculata in benthic environments and providing promising novel metabolites for biotechnological implications. MDPI 2022-09-19 /pmc/articles/PMC9504318/ /pubmed/36135774 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md20090585 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Righi, Sara
Forti, Luca
Simonini, Roberto
Ferrari, Valentina
Prevedelli, Daniela
Mucci, Adele
Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida)
title Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida)
title_full Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida)
title_fullStr Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida)
title_full_unstemmed Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida)
title_short Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida)
title_sort novel natural compounds and their anatomical distribution in the stinging fireworm hermodice carunculata (annelida)
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9504318/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36135774
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md20090585
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