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

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 mumol/g wet mass. T ishibashii also contained spermine, S. cruviseta contained norspermidine and norspermine and H. communis, E candida and P nipponicus contained diaminopropane, norspermidine and norspermine, as minor polyamines above the detection limit (0.01 mumol/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. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.