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

9513100伯格哈特该奖项支持田纳西-诺克斯维尔大学的戈登·M·伯格哈特博士和京都大学的森明博士之间为期三年的合作研究项目。聚集在一起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的生物学家。这个项目将研究日本钠酸蛇的一个显着的颈部毒腺的结构和功能。问题是蛇是如何合成和使用这种由强烈毒素组成的复杂化学炖锅的，这种毒素似乎是这种物种和一些亲戚所独有的。由于在这一物种最受欢迎的猎物--两栖动物的皮肤中发现了相关的毒素，这种毒液可能来自于从动物的饮食中隔离出来的化学物质。到目前为止，还没有在任何羊膜脊椎动物身上证明这一点，尽管许多羊膜脊椎动物吃的是潜在有毒的两栖动物。新生的蛇似乎有一个未发育的腺体，这个系统的个体发育将通过一系列实验来探索。蛇对潜在捕食者的行为以及这些动物对毒素的反应也将在非损伤性测试中进行探索。该项目汇集了来自两个国家的行为学、发展学、蛇毒和组织学方面的工作人员。这一提议实现了该计划的共同努力目标，即将两个国家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. ***