Ants are one of the important groups of venomous animals with about 14,000 described species. Studies so far focused on the discovery of venom proteins are only available for limited stinging ants, and the proteinaceous compositions of the stingless ants are completely unknown. Here, we used the transcriptomic approach to identify venom components from the yellow meadow ant, Lasius flavus, a stingless ant. The transcriptomic analysis yielded an extraordinary simplicity of the venom expression profile, with 17 venom proteins, such as phospholipase B, odorant binding protein, and apolipoprotein D. Ten of them were discovered as novel toxins for future functional investigations. Quantitative real time PCR analysis revealed that genes encoding the identified venom proteins display exclusively or highly expression profiles in venom glands, validating them as venom compositions. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the evolutional diversity of toxins between stinging and stingless ants.

Calcium (Ca²⁺) is an essential nutrient for plants and enhances their resistance to heavy metal stress. This study employed hydroponic experiments to investigate how varying Ca²⁺ levels (0, 0.5, 2, and 5 mM) regulate maize seedling growth, physiological-biochemical traits, and cellular antioxidant defense systems under cadmium (Cd) stress, thereby alleviating Cd toxicity. The results showed that Ca²⁺ supplementation mitigated the inhibitory effects of Cd stress on root length, dry weight, and photosynthetic pigment content. Additionally, Ca²⁺ application increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), as well as the contents of glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (ASA) in leaves, with maximum increases of 14.9%, 65.39%, 146%, and 135%, respectively, compared to the control (CK). Under Ca²⁺ treatment, peroxidase (POD) activity significantly decreased, with a maximum reduction of 34.38% compared to CK, while malondialdehyde (MDA) content markedly increased, reaching 19.84% higher than CK. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the 5 mM Ca²⁺ treatment achieved the highest composite score, indicating optimal antioxidant capacity in maize seedlings and reduced membrane lipid peroxidation caused by excessive Cd accumulation. This study enhances the understanding of calcium’s role in plant stress responses and provides insights for safe maize production in Cd-contaminated environments.