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Investigating Insect Adhesion Secretions by Gas Chromatography-Ma
Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques

Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques
Open Access

ISSN: 2157-7064

+44 1300 500008

Special Issue Article - (2015) Volume 0, Issue 0

Investigating Insect Adhesion Secretions by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Albert K1*, Gerhardt H2 and Lämmerhofer M2
1Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
2Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
*Corresponding Author: Albert K, Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Auf Der Morgenstelle 18, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany, Tel: 07071-29-75335, Fax: 07071-29-5875 Email:

Insects are able to carry the multiple of their weight and to climb at vertical supports such as glass. This is due to the fact that they contain liquid secretions at the end of their tarsi (lower part of the legs). Such biological adhesive systems could be used for technical and medical applications [1]. The chemical composition of these secretions is still unknown. Because of the extreme low content of material available it is a real analytical challenge to obtain information upon the structure of the compounds forming the secretions.

For the investigation of small amounts of compounds there exist different enrichment and extraction techniques such as “solid phase microextraction (SPME)“ [2-4]. These techniques can not be favourably used for sample sampling at living insects. Therefore a new efficient technique had to be developed prior to GC-MS analysis.

Contact solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with a self-made uncoated glass fiber in comparison to the use of polydimethylsiloxanecoated fibers or classical solvent sampling showed to yield a very efficient technique for in vivo-sampling [5,6]. Employing this technique in conjungtion with GC-MS analysis 45 different hydrocarbons can be determined in the secretions of the investigated insect Schistocera gregaria. Long chain n-alkanes (C29) as well as branched alkanes (3- Me-C29) are the main components of the detected hydrocarbons. This is shown in the chromatogram of the tarsal secretion of Schistocera gregaria (Figure 1).

chromatography-separation-techniques-Chromatogram-tarsal-secretion

Figure 1: Chromatogram of the tarsal secretion of Schistocera gregaria.

Overall, the combination of contact solid-phase microextraction with uncoated glass together with GC-MS analysis proved to be a very efficient technique for the structure elucidation of extreme low amounts in living organisms.

References

  1. Betz O (2010) Adhesive exocrine glands in insects; morphology, ultrastructure, and adhesive secretion, in: ByernJ, GrunwaldI. Biological adhesive systems. From nature to technical and medical application. Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 111-152.
  2. Arthur CL, Pawliszyn J(1990) Solid phase microextraction with thermal desorption using fused silica optical fibers. Anal Chem 62: 2145-2148.
  3. Ouyang G, Vuckovic D, Pawliszyn J (2011) Nondestructive sampling of living systems using in vivo solid-phase microextraction. Chem Rev 111: 2784-2814.
  4. Buszewski B, Olszowy P, Pikus S, Kozak M (2014) Electropolymerized nanoporous polymeric SPME coatings: preparation and characterization by small angle X-ray scattering and scanning electron microscopy . Monatsh Chem 145: 527-531.
  5. Reitz M, Gerhardt H, Schmitt C, Betz O, Albert K, et al. (2015) Analysis of chemical profiles of insect adhesion secretions by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Anal Chim Acta 854: 47-60.
  6. Gerhardt H, Schmitt C, Betz O, Albert K, Lämmerhofer M (2015) Contact solid-phase microextraction with uncoated glass and polydimethylsiloxane-coated fibers versus solvent sampling for the determination of hydrocarbons in adhesion secretions of madagascar hissing cockroaches gromphadorrhina portentosa (blattodea) by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry.J Chromatogr A 1388: 24-35.
Citation: Albert K, Gerhardt H, Lämmerhofer M (2015) Investigating Insect Adhesion Secretions by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. J Chromatograph Separat Techniq S6:001.

Copyright: © 2015 Albert K, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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