Polyamines of primitive apterygotan insects: springtails, silverfish and a bristletail

Abstract

Polyamines extracted from whole bodies of four springtails, Tomocerus ishibashii , Hypogastrura communis , Sinella cruviseta and Folsomia candida , a bristletail, Pedetontus nipponicus , and two silverfish, Lepisma saccharina and Thermobia domestica , were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. All seven apterous insect species contained putrescine, cadaverine and spermidine as the common major polyamines, detected at the level of μmol/g wet mass. T. ishibashii also contained spermine, S. cruviseta contained norspermidine and norspermine and H. communis , F. candida and P. nipponicus contained diaminopropane, norspermidine and norspermine, as minor polyamines above the detection limit (0.01 μmol/g wet mass). The occurrence of diaminopropane, norspermidine, norspermine, spermine and thermospermine was confirmed in L. saccharina and T. domestica . The novel polyamines norspermidine, norspermine and thermospermine, widespread in higher insects, were also distributed within the primitive apterygotan insects.