Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yunfei Wang, Chuanlin Yin, Hao Zhang, Peter Muiruri Kamau, Wenqi Dong, Anna Luo, Longhui Chai, Shilong Yang, Ren Lai
Summary: This study reveals the mechanism of tissue-specific resistance in centipedes, where a splice variant of the receptor repels its own toxin, establishing a safe zone in the venom-storing/secreting environment.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Luo, Aili Wang, Peter Muiruri Kamau, Ren Lai, Lei Luo
Summary: Centipedes are ancient and successful venomous animals, with their venoms targeting ion channels in the nervous system. Understanding the mechanism of neurotoxins acting on ion channels contributes to the knowledge of centipede venoms and channel functions. The unique structure and selective activities of centipede venom peptides make them potential research tools and biological drugs.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eivind A. B. Undheim, Ronald A. Jenner
Summary: Animal venoms have evolved through recruitment of endogenous proteins with physiological functions, with centipedes being the only known animals with venoms containing gene families derived from horizontal gene transfer events. Horizontal gene transfer serves as a fast track channel for the evolution of novelty in animal venoms.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Meizhu Huang, Dapeng Li, Xinyu Cheng, Qing Pei, Zhiyong Xie, Huating Gu, Xuerong Zhang, Zijun Chen, Aixue Liu, Yi Wang, Fangmiao Sun, Yulong Li, Jiayi Zhang, Miao He, Yuan Xie, Fan Zhang, Xiangbing Qi, Congping Shang, Peng Cao
Summary: Appetitive locomotion is important for animals to approach rewards, but the neuronal circuitry controlling it is still unclear. Researchers discovered an excitatory brain circuit from the superior colliculus to the substantia nigra that enhances appetitive locomotion in mice during predatory hunting, depending on the activity of SNc dopamine neurons.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Ramith R. Nair, Gregory J. Velicer
Summary: The study shows that in a coevolution experiment, the frequency of mucoid evolved rapidly early on and then fluctuated within minority frequency ranges towards the end. Despite signs of negative frequency-dependent selection, mucoid clones demonstrated a predation-specific advantage in a competition experiment that was independent of frequency.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Emma J. Banks, Mauricio Valdivia-Delgado, Jacob Biboy, Amber Wilson, Ian T. Cadby, Waldemar Vollmer, Carey Lambert, Andrew L. Lovering, R. Elizabeth Sockett
Summary: Peptidoglycan hydrolases play an important role in shaping the cell morphology of bacteria. In this study, a peptidoglycan hydrolase was found in the predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, which is responsible for generating cell curvature. This enzyme invades prey bacteria, replicates within them, and alters its own cell wall to change its shape. This finding is significant for understanding bacterial morphology diversity and predatory fitness.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Na Tan, Jiaying Shi, Lingyu Xu, Yanrong Zheng, Xia Wang, Nanxi Lai, Zhuowen Fang, Jialu Chen, Yi Wang, Zhong Chen
Summary: This study deciphers the function and neural circuit basis of lateral hypothalamus CaMKII alpha(+) neurons in hunting behavior. These neurons integrate novelty-seeking signals from the medial preoptic area and promote predatory eating.
Article
Biology
Paloma T. Gonzalez-Bellido, Jennifer Talley, Elke K. Buschbeck
Summary: Strong selective pressure for survival triggered an ongoing predatory arms race 500 million years ago, leading to diverse eye adaptations that enhance visual performance in arthropods. These animals utilize morphological, neural, and behavioral strategies to gather crucial information about prey, emphasizing the importance of head and body tracking movements in categorizing potential targets. Ongoing research is also focused on sensorimotor transformations necessary for target interception.
CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Nicola Mayrhofer, Gregory J. Velicer, Kaitlin A. Schaal, Marie Vasse
Summary: The study found that the predatory bacterium Myxococcus xanthus has a repellent effect on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, causing it to avoid patches that would normally be attractive. Additionally, the nematode influences the predatory behavior of the bacterium, increasing its swarming rate in response to worm density and prey identity. These findings suggest that nematodes and bacterial predators mutually influence each other's behavior, with potential implications for coevolution within complex microbial food webs.
Article
Biology
Alberto Bortoni, Sharon M. Swartz, Hamid Vejdani, Aaron J. Corcoran
Summary: A predator's ability to catch prey depends on its navigation skills in response to prey movements. The pursuit behavior of Townsend's big-eared bat varies, as it relies on a slow and agile flight to stealthily approach prey and reacts to prey movements using a combination of pure pursuit and proportional navigation.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Ksenia G. Kuznetsova, Sofia S. Zvonareva, Rustam Ziganshin, Elena S. Mekhova, Polina Dgebuadze, Dinh T. H. Yen, Thanh H. T. Nguyen, Sergei A. Moshkovskii, Alexander E. Fedosov
Summary: This study focuses on the venom of the Vexillum genus, which produces complex venoms dominated by diversified short cysteine-rich peptides called vexitoxins. Vexitoxins show similarities to conotoxins and provide insights into venom evolution. The findings support the hypothesis of lower divergence between vexitoxin genes and their ancestral counterparts compared to that in conotoxins, and discuss the importance of further studies on vexitoxins for understanding the origin of conotoxins and addressing outstanding questions in venom evolution.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Kayleigh E. Phillips, Shukria Akbar, D. Cole Stevens
Summary: This review discusses various aspects of myxobacterial predation and provides current understanding and challenges regarding predatory performance.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Joel M. Durant, Rebecca E. Holt, Kotaro Ono, Oystein Langangen
Summary: Climate change affects species distribution and abundance globally, impacting local diversity and ecosystem functioning. Changes in population distribution and abundance can alter trophic interactions. In two marine environments, we studied the effect of predator presence and abundance on the distribution of two fish species. Our results show that the abundance of cod can limit the expansion of haddock to new areas, buffering ecosystem changes due to climate change. Considering trophic interactions and integrating climatic and ecological data can help understand and mitigate the effects of climate change on species distributions.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Noah D. Gripshover, Bruce C. Jayne
Summary: Predation is a complex process influenced by the behavior, morphology, and size of both predator and prey. This study focused on two snake species, observing their use of coiling and envenomation to immobilize prey, specifically crayfish. The results showed that prey attributes, such as hardness and time after molt, influenced the snake's choice of predatory behavior. The findings suggest that coiling evolved ancestral to the crayfish specialists, and envenomation subsequently evolved as an additional means of subduing formidable prey.
FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Amr M. AbdelAty, Dalia Yousri, Samia Chelloug, Mai Alduailij, Mohamed Abd Elaziz
Summary: This paper proposes an enhanced optimization technique using the memory dependency of fractional calculus operators to identify diverse dataset features. A chaotic sine map is applied to balance the transition between exploitation and exploration cores. The proposed algorithm, F-AHPO, outperforms other methods in terms of classification accuracy.
ALEXANDRIA ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sean D. McCarthy, Michel M. Dugon, Anne Marie Power
Article
Biology
John P. Dunbar, Collie Ennis, Robert Gandola, Michel M. Dugon
BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT-PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY
(2018)
Review
Toxicology
John P. Dunbar, Ronan Sulpice, Michel M. Dugon
CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Keith Lyons, Michel M. Dugon, Kevin Healy
Article
Food Science & Technology
John P. Dunbar, Antoine Fort, Damien Redureau, Ronan Sulpice, Michel M. Dugon, Loic Quinton
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
John P. Dunbar, Neyaz A. Khan, Cathy L. Abberton, Pearce Brosnan, Jennifer Murphy, Sam Afoullouss, Vincent O'Flaherty, Michel M. Dugon, Aoife Boyd
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2020)
Article
Toxicology
John P. Dunbar, Aiste Vitkauskaite, Derek T. O'Keeffe, Antoine Fort, Ronan Sulpice, Michel M. Dugon
Summary: The Noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis has expanded its range globally, posing a potential threat to native ecosystems and public health. Envenomations by S. nobilis can lead to symptoms ranging from mild to severe, including pain, tremors, fatigue, nausea, hypotension, and bacterial infections, with some cases requiring hospitalisation.
CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY
(2022)
Letter
Toxicology
John P. Dunbar, Aiste Vitkauskaite, Derek T. O'Keeffe, Antoine Fort, Ronan Sulpice, Michel M. Dugon
CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
John P. Dunbar, Aiste Vitkauskaite, Colin Lawton, Ben Waddams, Michel M. Dugon
Summary: The noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis is expanding its range globally, which could have implications for public health and native species. A study reports the predation of a protected species of bat by this spider in Britain, which is the first recorded case of a Theridiidae spider preying on a bat worldwide.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Aiste Vitkauskaite, John P. Dunbar, Colin Lawton, Panagiotis Dalagiorgos, Marlee M. Allen, Michel M. Dugon
Summary: Research on spider predation on vertebrates, including cases involving Latrodectus and Steatoda spiders, sheds light on the multifunctional physiology of their venom and behavioral ecology. This provides valuable insights into the predatory behavior of these spiders.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Alannah Forde, Adam Jacobsen, Michel M. Dugon, Kevin Healy
Summary: Scorpionism is a global health concern with little understanding of the drivers of scorpion venom potency. This study found a positive relationship between venom potency and scorpion body size, supporting the perception that smaller scorpions have more potent venoms. Additionally, scorpion species with long narrow chelae were found to have higher venom potencies independent of body size.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Sean Rayner, Aiste Vitkauskaite, Kevin Healy, Keith Lyons, Leona McSharry, Dayle Leonard, John P. Dunbar, Michel M. Dugon
Summary: The Noble false widow spider is able to regulate its venom usage based on availability and its venom is much more potent than that of native spiders. This gives it a significant competitive advantage against other cohabiting spiders.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Jasmine L. Headlam, Kieran Lyons, Jon Kenny, Eamonn S. Lenihan, Declan T. G. Quigley, William Helps, Michel M. Dugon, Thomas K. Doyle
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Biology
Michel M. Dugon, John P. Dunbar, Sam Afoullouss, Janic Schulte, Amanda McEvoy, Michael J. English, Ruth Hogan, Collie Ennis, Ronan Sulpice
BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT-PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY
(2017)
Article
Toxicology
John P. Dunbar, Sam Afoullouss, Ronan Sulpice, Michel M. Dugon
CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY
(2018)