Poster Presentation 10th Australian Peptide Conference 2013

Proteomic analysis of the venom from the giant ant Dinoponera quadriceps: A comparative study and characterization of the major components of the venom derived from 4 distant areas of Brazil (#116)

Camila CT Cologna 1 , Jaqueline JC Cardoso 2 , Emmanuel EJ Jourdan 3 , Michel MD Degueldre 1 , Upert UG Gregory 4 , Nicolas NG Gilles 4 , Ana Paula APTU Trovatti Uetenabaro 2 , Philippe PT Thonart 3 , Edwin ED De Pauw 1 , Loïc LC Quinton 1
  1. Universite de Liège, Liège, Wln, Belgium
  2. Laboratory of Animal Studies, Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
  3. Département des sciences de la vie /-Biochimie et microbiologie industrielles , University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
  4. Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, iBiTec-S, SIMOPRO, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Ants from the genus Dinoponera are believed to be the world’s largest living ants with a body length of 3cm. Their occurrence is restricted to tropical areas of South America. Despite the noxious effects inflicted by its envenomation, the information about the biological properties and composition of their venom is still  limited. In this work, we study the venom of the giant Dinoponera quadriceps ant collected in 4 different regions of Brazil. By using combinatorial mass spectrometric approaches, we aim at: (i) characterizing the venom composition of these ants; (ii) establishing a comparative analysis of the venom from the 4 different regions. The ants were captured in the surroundings of Contendas, Manoel Vitorino, Caetite and Feira de Santana (Brazil). Venom was extracted by mechanical stimulation and then dried. An aliquot of each sample was analyzed by MALDI-TOF/TOF and nanoLC-ESI-Q-TOF. The combinatorial mass spectrometry analyses demonstrate that ant venom is a copious source of new compounds. Several new peptides were identified and selected for “de novo sequencing”. Since most of our new peptides showed similarities with antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), antimicrobial assays were performed with the purpose of evaluating their activity. The biological assays were carried out on a broad spectrum of microorganisms, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts and fungi. In regard to the comparative study, we observed considerable differences in the venom composition which could be linked to an adaption to the environment. Concerning the biological assays, the peptides called Dq-3162 and Da-3177 showed a wide-ranging antimicrobial activity. In an increasing antibiotic resistance era, the description and characterization of new AMPs with a broad spectrum of activity and different scaffolds may aid scientists to design new therapeutic agents and understand the mechanisms of those peptides to interact with microbial membranes. The results obtained pinpoint the biotechnological potential of ant´s venom.