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Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiling by Fractionation and GC-MS in Socially Parasitic Ants.
- Source :
-
Bio-protocol [Bio Protoc] 2023 Jul 05; Vol. 13 (13), pp. e4772. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jul 05 (Print Publication: 2023). - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Ants use cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) as a semiochemical for recognizing their nestmates. For socially parasitic ants, deceiving the CHC is an important survival strategy. Profiling and quantifying CHC is a potent approach to understanding such nestmate discrimination behavior. Thus, a highly efficient, stable, and reproducible extraction method for CHC is essential for this purpose. This paper describes a method for socially parasitic ants to disguise the host species' CHC profile under laboratory conditions, as well as the extraction and measurement of CHC from ants (from a previous study). First, the artificial isotopic substance is applied to the host worker; then, the socially parasitic ant disguises the host-like CHC profile against the above host worker. Next, the CHC is extracted and fractionated from a socially parasitic ant using hexane and silica gel. After concentrating the fractionated product, this product is then used for measurement by gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS). The CHC extraction protocol described in this paper may be used for various ant species.<br />Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.<br /> (©Copyright : © 2023 The Authors; This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2331-8325
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 13
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Bio-protocol
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 37456338
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.4772