Fluorescent proteins function as a prey attractant: experimental evidence from the hydromedusa Olindias formosus and other marine organisms.
Fluorescent proteins function as a prey attractant: experimental evidence from the hydromedusa Olindias formosus and other marine organisms.
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DOI：
10.1242/bio.012138
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发表时间：
2015-07-31
期刊：
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Dunn CW
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Haddock SH;Dunn CW
虽然绿色荧光蛋白家族（GFP）中的蛋白质已被发现在广泛的分类群，其在这些生物体的生态功能仍然不清楚。许多假设的作用与修改生物发光光谱或调节藻类共生体的光制度有关，但这些并不能解释GFP在非发光和非共生动物中的存在。其他假设的功能与视觉信号本身无关，包括应激反应和抗氧化作用，但这些都不能解释荧光在动物特定结构中的定位。在这里，我们测试了荧光可能用于吸引猎物的假设。在实验室实验中，捕食者是水螅水母Olindias formosus（以前被称为O。福尔摩沙），它的触手顶端有荧光和色素斑。在发光条件下，水母的触手会激发荧光，触手尖端在背景上方可见，因此，水母的触手对猎物，即水母属的幼年岩鱼有更大的吸引力（P<1×10−5）。当处理不包括荧光结构或在黄光或白色光下进行时，鱼没有显著响应，所述黄光或白色光在环境光以上不产生可见的荧光。此外，水下观察鱼类的行为时，提出了一个明亮的照明点表现出强烈的吸引力，这种视觉刺激。现场观察也提供了证据，荧光诱饵超常刺激在其他几种海洋动物，包括管水母Rhizophysa eysenhardti。我们的研究结果支持的想法，荧光结构可以作为猎物引诱剂，从而提供了一个潜在的功能，在不同范围的生物体的GFP和其他荧光蛋白。
Although proteins in the green fluorescent protein family (GFPs) have been discovered in a wide array of taxa, their ecological functions in these organisms remain unclear. Many hypothesized roles are related to modifying bioluminescence spectra or modulating the light regime for algal symbionts, but these do not explain the presence of GFPs in animals that are non-luminous and non-symbiotic. Other hypothesized functions are unrelated to the visual signals themselves, including stress responses and antioxidant roles, but these cannot explain the localization of fluorescence in particular structures on the animals. Here we tested the hypothesis that fluorescence might serve to attract prey. In laboratory experiments, the predator was the hydromedusa Olindias formosus (previously known as O. formosa), which has fluorescent and pigmented patches on the tips of its tentacles. The prey, juvenile rockfishes in the genus Sebastes, were significantly more attracted (P<1×10−5) to the medusa's tentacles under lighting conditions where fluorescence was excited and tentacle tips were visible above the background. The fish did not respond significantly when treatments did not include fluorescent structures or took place under yellow or white lights, which did not generate fluorescence visible above the ambient light. Furthermore, underwater observations of the behavior of fishes when presented with a brightly illuminated point showed a strong attraction to this visual stimulus. In situ observations also provided evidence for fluorescent lures as supernormal stimuli in several other marine animals, including the siphonophore Rhizophysa eysenhardti. Our results support the idea that fluorescent structures can serve as prey attractants, thus providing a potential function for GFPs and other fluorescent proteins in a diverse range of organisms.