Publication Date:
2002-08-24
Description:
Populations of the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis have evolved geographically variable resistance to tetrodotoxin (TTX) in a coevolutionary arms race with their toxic prey, newts of the genus Taricha. Here, we identify a physiological mechanism, the expression of TTX-resistant sodium channels in skeletal muscle, responsible for adaptive diversification in whole-animal resistance. Both individual and population differences in the ability of skeletal muscle fibers to function in the presence of TTX correlate closely with whole-animal measures of TTX resistance. Demonstration of individual variation in an essential physiological function responsible for the adaptive differences among populations is a step toward linking the selective consequences of coevolutionary interactions to geographic and phylogenetic patterns of diversity.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Geffeney, Shana -- Brodie, Edmund D Jr -- Ruben, Peter C -- Brodie, Edmund D 3rd -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2002 Aug 23;297(5585):1336-9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12193784" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Action Potentials
;
Adaptation, Physiological
;
Animals
;
*Biological Evolution
;
Colubridae/*physiology
;
Drug Resistance
;
Linear Models
;
Locomotion/drug effects
;
Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/drug effects/physiology
;
Muscle, Skeletal/drug effects/*physiology
;
Neuromuscular Junction/drug effects/physiology
;
Predatory Behavior
;
*Salamandridae/metabolism
;
Skin/chemistry
;
Sodium Channels/*drug effects/physiology
;
Tetrodotoxin/*toxicity
;
United States
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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