Composition, Seasonal Variation, and Biological Activities of Lantana camara Essential Oils from Côte d'Ivoire.

This work aims to study the variations in the composition of Lantana camara leaf, flower, and stem essential oils over two years. L. camara organs were harvested in Bregbo (East Côte d'Ivoire) each month from June 2015 to June 2017. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and characterized by GC-MS and 13C NMR. Eighty-four compounds accounting for 84.4-99.1% of the essential oils have been identified. The essential oils hydrodistillated from L. camara are dominated by sesquiterpenes such as (E)-ß-caryophyllene and α-humulene, which were found in all samples. Some monoterpenes such as thymol, sabinene, and α-pinene were also present. Statistical analysis (principal component analysis and clustering) revealed a high variability in essential oil composition between the different organs and also within the studied periods, as the thymol proportion was higher during flowering and fruiting months. In addition, the stem, flower, and fruit essential oils were more concentrated in thymol than the leaf essential oils. The proportions of (E)-ß-caryophyllene and α-humulene were strictly inverted with the thymol proportion throughout the harvest period or vegetative cycle. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and insecticidal activities of leaves and flowers essential oils were also studied. Results showed that L. camara leaf and flower essential oils displayed high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and insecticidal activities.

Bacteria may contribute to distant species recognition in ant-aphid mutualistic relationships.

Mutualistic interactions between ant and aphid species have been the subject of considerable historical and contemporary investigations, the primary benefits being cleaning and protection for the aphids and carbohydrate-rich honeydew for the ants. Questions remained, however, as to the volatile semiochemical factor influencing this relationship. A recent study highlighted the role of bacterial honeydew volatile compounds in ant attraction. Here, ant's ability to distantly discriminate 2 aphid species was investigated based on bacterial honeydew semiochemicals emissions using a two-way olfactometer. Both the mutualistic aphid Aphis fabae L. and the nonmyrmecophilous aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris were found to be attractive for the ant Lasius niger L. The level of attraction was similar in both assays (control vs. one of the aphid species). However, when given a choice between these 2 aphid species, ants showed a significant preference for Aphis fabae. Honeydew volatiles, mostly from bacterial origins, are known to be a key element in ant attraction. Using the same olfactometry protocol, the relative attractiveness of volatiles emitted by honeydews collected from each aphid species and by bacteria isolated from each honeydew was investigated. Again, ants significantly preferred volatiles released by Aphis fabae honeydew and bacteria. This information suggests that microbial honeydew volatiles enable ants to distantly discriminate aphid species. These results strengthen the interest of studying the occurrence and potential impact of microorganisms in insect symbioses.

Do aphids actively search for ant partners?

The aphid-ant mutualistic relationships are not necessarily obligate for neither partners but evidence is that such interactions provide them strong advantages in terms of global fitness. While it is largely assumed that ants actively search for their mutualistic partners namely using volatile cues; whether winged aphids (i.e., aphids' most mobile form) are able to select ant-frequented areas had not been investigated so far. Ant-frequented sites would indeed offer several advantages for these aphids including a lower predation pressure through ant presence and enhanced chances of establishing mutuaslistic interactions with neighbor ant colonies. In the field, aphid colonies are often observed in higher densities around ant nests, which is probably linked to a better survival ensured by ants' services. Nevertheless, this could also result from a preferential establishment of winged aphids in ant-frequented areas. We tested this last hypothesis through different ethological assays and show that the facultative myrmecophilous black bean aphid, Aphis fabae L., does not orientate its search for a host plant preferentially toward ant-frequented plants. However, our results suggest that ants reduce the number of winged aphids leaving the newly colonized plant. Thus, ants involved in facultative myrmecophilous interactions with aphids appear to contribute to structure aphid populations in the field by ensuring a better establishment and survival of newly established colonies rather than by inducing a deliberate plant selection by aphid partners based on the proximity of ant colonies.

Synthesis of novel D-glucuronic acid fatty esters using Candida antarctica lipase in tert-butanol.

Glucuronic acid n-alkyl esters, a novel class of promising biosurfactants and their corresponding glucose esters with the same side-chain length, were synthesized by direct esterification in a non-aqueous phase (tert-butanol) using an immobilized lipase.