Nisani Zia, Dunbar Stephen G, Hayes William K
Department of Earth and Biological Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA.
Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2007 Jun;147(2):509-13. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.01.027. Epub 2007 Feb 2.
Scorpion venom has many components, but is mainly made up of water, salts, small molecules, peptides, and proteins. One can reasonably assume that the production and storage of this complex secretion is an expensive metabolic investment. However, to date, no study has addressed the costs associated with the regeneration of venom by scorpions. Using a closed-system respirometer, we examined the difference in oxygen consumption between milked and unmilked scorpions to determine the metabolic costs associated with the first 72 h of subsequent venom synthesis. During this time period, milked scorpions had a significantly higher (39%) metabolic rate than unmilked scorpions. The regenerated venom from a second milking had significantly lower (74%) protein concentration, suggesting that venom regeneration was incomplete after 72 h. The protein content in the regenerated venom was not correlated with oxygen consumption. The significant increase in oxygen consumption after milking supports existing hypotheses about the metabolic cost associated with venom regeneration and provides further insight on why scorpions appear to be judicious in their stinger use.
蝎毒有许多成分，但主要由水、盐、小分子、肽和蛋白质组成。人们可以合理推测，这种复杂分泌物的产生和储存是一项昂贵的代谢投资。然而，迄今为止，尚无研究探讨蝎子毒液再生所涉及的成本。我们使用封闭式呼吸计，检测了取毒和未取毒蝎子之间的耗氧量差异，以确定后续毒液合成最初72小时所涉及的代谢成本。在此期间，取毒蝎子的代谢率比未取毒蝎子显著高出39%。第二次取毒所获得的再生毒液的蛋白质浓度显著降低了74%，这表明72小时后毒液再生并不完全。再生毒液中的蛋白质含量与耗氧量无关。取毒后耗氧量的显著增加支持了关于毒液再生相关代谢成本的现有假说，并进一步揭示了蝎子为何似乎会谨慎使用其螫刺。
