Title
Volatile compounds in shoulder gland secretions of male flying foxes, genus Pteropus (Pteropodidae, Chiroptera)
Author(s)
Wood, W.E.; Walsh, A.; Seyjagat, J.; Weldon, P.J.
Published
2005
Publisher
ZEITSCHRIFT FUR NATURFORSCHUNG C-A JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES
Abstract
The shoulder gland secretions of captive males of the Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus), the little golden-mantled flying fox (P pumilus), the island flying fox (P hypomelanus), and the large flying fox (P vampyrus) were examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sixty-five compounds, including hydrocarbons, carboxylic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, and amides, were identified among the four species. Many of these compounds, such as squalene, cholesterol, and C-5-C-16 straight- and branched-chain carboxylic acids, are typical of tetrapod epidermal products. Aldehydes, which were detected in all four Pteropus species, and some straight- and branched-chain ketones, which were detected in P. hypomelanus and R pumilus, are known from other mammalian skin glands. Acetophenone, 4-acetoxyacetophenone, and 4-hydroxyacetophenone were observed in P pumilus; the last compound comprised 37.1% of the total ion current. 2,3-Butanediol, a prominent component (5.2-19.3%) in the secretions of P giganteus, R hypomelanus, and R pumilus, and C-10 and C-12 isopropyl esters and C-10-C-14 1-methylbutyl esters, observed in R hypomelanus and R vampyrus, have not previously been reported from vertebrates. alpha-Methyl-4-methoxybenzyl alcohol and dihydro-5-phenyl-2(3H)-furanone, from P. giganteus and P pumilus, are new natural products. 1-Chloro-3-methyl-2-butene, another new natural product, and five C-5 compounds exhibiting a similar isoprenoid structure were observed in R giganteus. Striking contrasts were observed in the chemical profiles of the species we examined, with even general chemical classes differentially represented among them.
Keywords
DEER ODOCOILEUS-VIRGINIANUS; BEAVER; MUSTH; carboxylic acid; ester; hydrocarbon; ketone; animal; article; bat; chemistry; electrospray mass spectrometry; exocrine gland; physiology; secretion; shoulder; Alcohols; Aldehydes; Amides; Animals; Carboxylic Acids; Chiroptera; Esters; Exocrine Glands; Hydrocarbons; Ketones; Shoulder; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Chiroptera; Mammalia; Pteropodidae; Pteropus; Pteropus giganteus; Pteropus hypomelanus; Pteropus pumilus; Pteropus vampyrus; Tetrapoda; Vertebrata
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PUB10959