甲虫表皮碳氢化合物研究进展

Research progress in cuticular hydrocarbons of beetles

昆虫表皮碳氢化合物(cuticular hydrocarbons)是正烷烃、不饱和烃以及甲基支链烃的混合物。除了保持水分的基本功能外,还具有多种生物功能。鞘翅目昆虫(俗称甲虫)是多样性最为丰富的昆虫类群,目前对其表皮碳氢化合物研究开展颇多,主要见于化学通讯领域,内容涉及到性信息素、标记信息素、聚集信息素、化学拟态、寄主/猎物定位和识别等方面。此外,在甲虫表皮碳氢化合物组成的影响因素、表皮碳氢化合物生物合成的分子机制以及在化学分类中的应用等方面的研究也有不同程度的进展。本文对上述方面进行了系统的归纳与总结,以期为相关研究的进一步开展提供参考。

Cuticular hydrocarbons(CHCs)of insects are comprised of straight chain, unsaturated and methyl-branched complex mixtures. In addition to acting as a desiccation barrier, the CHCs may have mutually nonexclusive functions. Here, we summarized the research progress in cuticular hydrocarbon of beetles, the most diversified insect group, mainly focused on chemical communication, including sex pheromone, marking pheromone, aggregation pheromone, chemical mimicry, host recognition, etc. Also, the factors influencing CHC profiles, molecular mechanism of biosynthesis and application in chemotaxonomy were reviewed. By summarizing these above, we aim to provide insights for further related study.