科學(xué)60秒:蝶兒采藥為哪般?
來源：滬江聽寫酷
2011-05-28 00:14
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Many of our medicines [--1--] plants. But we’re not the only ones who [--2--] nature. There’s increasing evidence that some animals seek out specific plants for their medicinal qualities. A new study shows that monarch butterflies may be among them.
Monarch butterflies—famous for their U.S.–Mexico migration—feed on dozens of species of milkweed. Some milkweeds have a higher concentration of chemicals called cardenolides, which make the butterflies [--3--]. Research had focused on whether the monarc’s chose different milkweeds to hurt their enemies.
But Emory University’s Jaap de Roode wondered if the choice might be related to a parasite that’s passed from mother to offspring, with [--4--]: “What we do find is that the monarchs prefer to lay their eggs on the medicinal species when they are infected. However, when they are not infected with the parasite, they do not prefer this species over this one, they lay their eggs equally between these two species. So somehow they know that they’re infected and they know what to do about it.” The research was published in the journal Ecology Letters.
Co-author Mark Hunter notes that watching animal choices could offer clues about what plants might contain [--5--] medicines for us.
Many of our medicines [--1--] plants. But we’re not the only ones who [--2--] nature. There’s increasing evidence that some animals seek out specific plants for their medicinal qualities. A new study shows that monarch butterflies may be among them.
Monarch butterflies—famous for their U.S.–Mexico migration—feed on dozens of species of milkweed. Some milkweeds have a higher concentration of chemicals called cardenolides, which make the butterflies [--3--]. Research had focused on whether the monarc’s chose different milkweeds to hurt their enemies.
But Emory University’s Jaap de Roode wondered if the choice might be related to a parasite that’s passed from mother to offspring, with [--4--]: “What we do find is that the monarchs prefer to lay their eggs on the medicinal species when they are infected. However, when they are not infected with the parasite, they do not prefer this species over this one, they lay their eggs equally between these two species. So somehow they know that they’re infected and they know what to do about it.” The research was published in the journal Ecology Letters.
Co-author Mark Hunter notes that watching animal choices could offer clues about what plants might contain [--5--] medicines for us.
originate in
tap into
toxic to predators
fatal results
potential
我們很多的藥都是從植物中提取的.但是并不是只有我們才會利用大自然.越來越多的證據(jù)表明有些動物也能找出它們所需要的藥用植物.一項(xiàng)新的研究顯示帝王蝶可能就是其中之一。
聞名于北美-墨西哥長途遷徙的帝王蝶以各種各樣的乳草為食.有些乳草含有高濃度化學(xué)物質(zhì)強(qiáng)心甾,這種物質(zhì)會使蝶兒的捕食者中毒.我們主要研究帝王蝶是否會選擇不同的乳草來攻擊它們的敵人。
不過艾莫里大學(xué)的Jaap de Roode很好奇這種選擇是否跟從母體上過繼到后代的致命寄生蟲有關(guān),“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)當(dāng)?shù)弁醯患纳x感染時，它們傾向于將它們的卵產(chǎn)在藥用植物上。但是，如果它們沒有被寄生蟲感染，它們就不會有這種傾向，它們在兩種植物上產(chǎn)卵的幾率差不多。所以它們可能就是知道它們被感染了，還知道怎么去處理它?！贝隧?xiàng)研究曾發(fā)表在《生態(tài)文學(xué)》期刊上。
合著者馬克?亨特注到觀察動物的選擇可以為我們提供哪種植物可做藥用提供線索。
