In 1829, Darwin was researching fart worm and found that fart worm sprayed hot toxic liquid ( benzoquinone at 100 degrees Celsius) through the abdominal glands, but why this corrosive substance is not Can harm the fart worm itself. Like the fart worm, the frog jellyfish newt viper will protect itself through poisonous substances. How can poisonous animals ensure that they are not harmed by the toxins they secrete?
stores the substances that produce venom
Through the research of the past generations, it has been found that animals usually have two ways to protect themselves from poisoning. The more common one is to store toxic substances and use them by farts. In this way, they store the venom-producing substances in two chambers. When threatened, the valves of the two chambers will be opened. The two substances undergo a violent chemical reaction to produce a Corrosive substances, and ejected from the glands, and the hardened cavity can protect the internal tissue of beetle.
The fart worm sprays hot toxic liquid through the abdomen glands
There are many animals with similar mechanisms. Jellyfish store their own venom in the harpoon-shaped'gill sac' cells, hundreds of millions of'thorns' The sac' cells share the milligram-level venom together, so the jellyfish will not be affected by its own venom at all.
Generally speaking, snake venom is stored in the venom gland. Due to the special nature of its composition (90%-95% is polypeptide), the venom must enter the animal body (in the blood or muscle cells), and then the venom in the venom All kinds of toxins will work, causing animal blood to coagulate and attack the animal’s nerve cells/muscle cells. For snakes, the venom in the venom gland has one and only one outlet, which is injected into the prey or natural enemy through the fangs.
gene changes biochemical resistance
snakes will also take another approach,It is the evolution of a physique that is not poisoned. Using its own biochemical resistance, rattlesnakes and other vipers can produce special proteins that can bind to toxic compounds in the blood to inactivate them.
Speaking of biochemical resistance, poison dart frog is a good hand for immunity to autotoxins. As one of the most toxic species in the world, there are hundreds of alkaloids (BTX) distributed on the surface of poison dart frog. This Neurotoxin can disrupt the way animals are neuromodulated.
alkaloid molecules bind to voltage-gated sodium ion channels on animal nerve cells and muscle cells and change their conformation, keep them open, induce progressive membrane depolarization, and cause some neurotransmitters and The massive release of electrical signals caused death due to symptoms such as convulsions, paralysis, respiratory paralysis, arrhythmia, and cardiac arrest. The bitter compounds do not come from their own sources. They obtain this alkaloid by preying on mites, ants and other arthropods , and then transfer to the surface of the body to form a strong defense force. The most powerful alkaloid is ground spine. It can be attached to the receptors in the brain like nicotine, but the effect is ten times stronger than nicotine. The weight of about 0.065 grams is enough to kill a person. If the neurotoxin alkaloid is to be attacked The molecular target is imagined as a lock, and the alkaloid is the key. When a poisonous key is inserted into the lock, it will work. However, if the shape of the lock is changed, the key will lose its function. It can resist nerves from poison dart frogs and others. For toxin animals, in the process of evolution, they can easily change the binding structure of alkaloids, which is enough to ensure that neurotoxins will not adversely affect themselves.
Alkaloids from poison dart frogs (BTX)
Co-evolves with natural enemies
It is not only poisonous animals that can build this resistance.Their natural enemies and prey can also do the same. garter snake preys on neurotoxin-containing newts. It has also evolved the characteristics of being able to resist newts toxins. It is scientifically discovered that garter snakes and salamanders are the same. This means that only the most poisonous salamander can not be eaten, and only the snake that is most resistant to toxins can survive, and these genes will be passed on to the offspring to the greatest extent. As the toxins continue to upgrade, Resistance also continues to increase, resulting in genes that provide the strongest resistance and toxicity. This pattern keeps repeating. The locust-eater can resist the venom of a scorpion sting by changing the genes of the nervous system. The horned lizard uses its own evolved special plasma to resist the formic acid of the ants, which can be eaten by sea slugs. The jellyfish’s spiny sac prevents the compounds in the mucus from being activated, and reuses them to protect themselves.
Humans’ understanding and differentiation of natural poisons predates the development of human science. About 1500 BC, A, H, O and several metal toxins were recorded on the Ebers papyrus of ancient Egypt. In the process of discovering these poisons, people often have to pay a heavy price, and the power of nature is always worthy of our respect.
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