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The protein and volatile components of trail mucus in the Common Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum3.81 MB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
The protein and volatile components of trail mucus in the Common Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum
PLoS One, Vol.16(5), pp.1-20
2021
Abstract
The Common or Brown Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum, is an invasive land snail that has successfully colonized a diverse range of global environments. Like other invasive land snails, it is a significant pest of a variety of agricultural crops, including citrus, grapes and canola. Cornu aspersum secretes a mucus trail when mobile that facilitates locomotion. The involvement of the trail in conspecific chemical communication has also been postulated. Our study found that anterior tentacle contact with conspecific mucus elicited a significant increase in heart rate from 46.9 to 51 beats per minute. In order to gain a better understanding of the constituents of the trail mucus and the role it may play in snail communication, the protein and volatile components of mucus trails were investigated. Using two different protein extraction methods, mass spectrometry analysis yielded 175 different proteins, 29 of which had no significant similarity to any entries in the non-redundant protein sequence database. Of the mucus proteins, 22 contain features consistent with secreted proteins, including a perlucin-like protein. The eight most abundant volatiles detected using gas chromatography were recorded (including propanoic acid and limonene) and their potential role as putative pheromones are discussed. In summary, this study has provided an avenue for further research pertaining to the role of trail mucus in snail communication and provides a useful repository for land snail trail mucus components. This may be utilized for further research regarding snail attraction and dispersal, which may be applied in the fields of agriculture , ecology and human health.
Details
- Title
- The protein and volatile components of trail mucus in the Common Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum
- Authors
- Kaylene Ballard (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, GeneCology Research Centre - LegacyAnne Klein (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringAndrew Hayes (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Industries Research CentreTianfang Wang (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, GeneCology Research Centre - LegacyScott Cummins (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- PLoS One, Vol.16(5), pp.1-20
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0251565
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- Copyright note
- Copyright: © 2021 Ballard et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Industries Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99534605702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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