U.S.-Japan Cooperative Science: Function and Ontogeny of a Remarkable Poisonous Vertebrate Neck Gland

该奖项支持田纳西大学诺克斯维尔分校的Gordon M. Burghardt博士和京都大学的Akira Mori博士之间为期三年的合作研究项目。与会的合作者还包括横滨市立大学医学院的理查德·戈里斯博士和美国专门研究爬行动物化学生态学的生物学家。本项目将研究日本蛇毒颈腺的结构和功能。问题是这种蛇是如何合成和使用这种复杂的强效毒素的化学炖菜的，这种毒素似乎是这种物种和一些亲戚所独有的。由于相关毒素存在于该物种最喜欢捕食的两栖动物的皮肤中，因此毒液可能来自动物饮食中隔离的化学物质。到目前为止，这还没有在任何羊膜脊椎动物中得到证实，尽管许多动物吃潜在有毒的两栖动物。新生蛇似乎有一个未发育的腺体，该系统的个体发生将通过一系列的实验来探索。蛇对潜在捕食者的行为和这些动物对毒素的反应也将在非伤害试验中进行探索。该项目汇集了来自两国的行为、发育、蛇毒和组织学方面的工作者。该提案实现了该计划的目标，将两国的最先进方法纳入联合国际合作努力。＊＊＊

9513100 Burghardt This award supports a three year cooperative research project between Dr. Gordon M. Burghardt of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Dr. Akira Mori of Kyoto University. The collaborators assembled also include Dr. Richard Goris at the Yokohama City University School of Medicine and biologists specializing on reptile chemical ecology in the USA. This project will investigate the structure and function of a remarkable nuchal venom gland in a Japanese natricine snake. The problem is how the snake synthesizes and uses this complex chemical stew of potent toxins, which seem to be unique to this species and some relatives. Since related toxins are found in the skin of favored prey of this species, amphibians, it is possible that the venom derives from chemicals sequestered from the diet of the animal. This has not been demonstrated in any amniote vertebrate to date, although many eat potentially toxic amphibians. Neonatal snakes seem to have an undeveloped gland and the ontogeny of the system will be explored through a series of experiments. The behavior of the snakes towards potential predators and responses of such animals to the toxins will also be explored in noninjurious tests. The project brings together workers in behavior, development, snake venoms, and histology from two countries. This proposal fulfills the objectives of the Program in its joint endeavor bringing state of the art methods from two countries into a joint international collaborative effort. ***