Mitchell Matthew D, Bairos-Novak Kevin R, Ferrari Maud C O
Department of Biomedical Sciences, WCVM, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5B4.
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5B4.
J Exp Biol. 2017 Jun 1;220(Pt 11):1937-1946. doi: 10.1242/jeb.135137.
In aquatic systems, chemical cues are a major source of information through which animals are able to assess the current state of their environment to gain information about local predation risk. Prey use chemicals released by predators (including cues from a predator's diet) and other prey (such as alarm cues and disturbance cues) to mediate a range of behavioural, morphological and life-history antipredator defences. Despite the wealth of knowledge on the ecology of antipredator defences, we know surprisingly little about the physiological mechanisms that control the expression of these defensive traits. Here, we summarise the current literature on the mechanisms known to specifically mediate responses to predator odours, including dietary cues. Interestingly, these studies suggest that independent pathways may control predator-specific responses, highlighting the need for greater focus on predator-derived cues when looking at the mechanistic control of responses. Thus, we urge researchers to tease apart the effects of predator-specific cues (i.e. chemicals representing a predator's identity) from those of diet-mediated cues (i.e. chemicals released from a predator's diet), which are known to mediate different ecological endpoints. Finally, we suggest some key areas of research that would greatly benefit from a more mechanistic approach.
在水生系统中，化学信号是动物获取环境当前状态信息的主要来源，通过这些信息动物能够了解当地的捕食风险。猎物利用捕食者释放的化学物质（包括来自捕食者食物的线索）以及其他猎物释放的化学物质（如警报信号和干扰信号）来介导一系列行为、形态和生活史方面的反捕食防御。尽管我们对反捕食防御的生态学有丰富的知识，但对于控制这些防御特征表达的生理机制却知之甚少。在这里，我们总结了目前关于已知专门介导对捕食者气味（包括食物线索）反应的机制的文献。有趣的是，这些研究表明独立的途径可能控制对捕食者的特异性反应，这凸显了在研究反应的机制控制时，需要更加关注来自捕食者的线索。因此，我们敦促研究人员区分捕食者特异性线索（即代表捕食者身份的化学物质）和饮食介导线索（即捕食者食物释放的化学物质）的影响，已知这两种线索介导不同的生态终点。最后，我们提出了一些关键的研究领域，采用更具机制性的方法将使这些领域受益匪浅。
