Symposium: Support for an International Symposium on Sequestered Defensive Compounds in Tetrapod Vertebrates, to be held August 17-22, 2008 in Manaus, Brazil

许多动物使用有毒的化学物质来保护自己不受捕食者的伤害。 这些有毒化合物可以由动物合成或从环境来源（通常是饮食）获得，并以其原始毒性形式储存（隔离）。 这种被隔离的防御性毒素在无脊椎动物中广泛存在，但在脊椎动物中很少有已知的例子。 然而，近年来，在脊椎动物中发现了几个螯合毒素的例子。 某些青蛙从蚂蚁和螨虫那里获得防御性毒素，一些蛇通过食用有毒的两栖动物获得防御性化合物。 其他脊椎动物群体被怀疑从猎物中隔离防御化合物，这表明这种现象可能比以前认识到的更普遍。该项目将支持美国研究人员参加2008年8月17日至22日在巴西马瑙斯举行的第六届世界爬虫学大会上举行的两栖动物和爬行动物隔离防御化合物国际研讨会。 该专题讨论会将汇集来自几个国家的研究人员，介绍最近关于螯合毒素的研究结果。 参与者将寻求确定依赖此类毒素进行防御的动物的生态学和生理学中的共同模式。 例如，最近的观察表明，能够隔离两栖动物毒素的蛇可能对两栖动物数量的持续下降特别敏感。 其他研究表明，一些捕食者对猎物毒素耐受的细胞机制可能有助于了解某些心血管疾病的生理过程。 重要的是，这次研讨会的特点是一些年轻的科学家，他们的工作正在改变这一研究领域;大部分资金将支持这些人。 通过在一个国际会议上，特别是在一个高度生物多样性的地区（巴西亚马逊河流域）举办这次专题讨论会，组织者试图鼓励来自许多国家的年轻研究人员对以前未研究的脊椎动物群体中的螯合毒素进行研究。

Many animals employ toxic chemicals to defend themselves against predators. Such toxic compounds may be synthesized by the animal or acquired from an environmental source, usually the diet, and stored (sequestered) in their original toxic form. Such sequestered defensive toxins are widespread among invertebrate animals, but few examples are known among vertebrates. In recent years, however, several examples of sequestered toxins have been discovered in vertebrates. Certain frogs obtain defensive toxins from ants and mites, and some snakes obtain defensive compounds by consuming toxic amphibians. Additional groups of vertebrates are suspected of sequestering defensive compounds from prey, suggesting that this phenomenon may be more widespread than previously recognized. This project will support participation by U.S. researchers in an international symposium on sequestered defensive compounds in amphibians and reptiles, which will be held at the Sixth World Congress of Herpetology in Manaus, Brazil, August 17-22, 2008. The symposium will bring together researchers from the several countries to present results of recent studies on sequestered toxins. The participants will seek to identify common patterns in the ecology and physiology of animals that rely on such toxins for their defense. For example, recent observations suggest that snakes that sequester amphibian toxins may be especially sensitive to ongoing amphibian declines. Other studies reveal that the cellular mechanisms underlying tolerance of prey toxins in some predators may provide insights into the physiological processes involved in certain cardiovascular diseases. Importantly, this symposium features a number of young scientists, whose work is transforming this field of study; the majority of the funding will support these individuals. By presenting this symposium at an international conference, especially in a region of high biodiversity (Amazonian Brazil), the organizers seek to encourage young researchers from many nations to pursue research on sequestered toxins in previously unstudied groups of vertebrates.