Monarch Butterflies Use Medicinal Plants to Treat Offspring for Disease
ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2010) — Monarch butterflies appear to use medicinal plants to treat their offspring for disease, research by biologists at Emory University shows. Their findings were published online Oct. 6 in the journal Ecology Letters.
Monarch butterfly egg on a milkweed plant leaf. (Credit: iStockphoto)
"We have shown that some species of milkweed, the larva's food plants, can reduce parasite infection in the monarchs," says Jaap de Roode, the evolutionary biologist who led the study. "And we have also found that infected female butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on plants that will make their offspring less sick, suggesting that monarchs have evolved the ability to medicate their offspring."
Few studies have been done on self-medication by animals, but some scientists have theorized that the practice may be more widespread than we realize. "We believe that our experiments provide the best evidence to date that animals use medication," de Roode says.
"The results are also exciting because the behavior is trans-generational," says Thierry Lefevre, a post-doctoral fellow in de Roode's lab. "While the mother is expressing the behavior, only her offspring benefit. That finding is surprising for monarch butterflies."
The findings also may have implications for human health, says University of Michigan chemical ecologist Mark Hunter, who collaborated with de Roode's group on the research.
"When I walk around outside, I think of the plants I see as a great, green pharmacy," Hunter says. "But what also strikes me is how little we actually know about what that pharmacy has to offer. Studying organisms engaged in self-medication gives us a clue as to what compounds might be worth investigating for their potential as human medicines."
...
Read more here/Leia mais aqui: Science Daily
+++++
Evidence for trans-generational medication in nature
Thierry Lefèvre1,*, Lindsay Oliver1, Mark D. Hunter2, Jacobus C. De Roode1
Article first published online: 6 OCT 2010
DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01537.x
Ecology Letters
Thierry Lefèvre1,*, Lindsay Oliver1, Mark D. Hunter2, Jacobus C. De Roode1
Article first published online: 6 OCT 2010
DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01537.x
Ecology Letters
Keywords:
Host–parasite ecology; monarch butterfly; Ophryocystis elektroscirrha; self-medication; tritrophic interactions
Abstract
Parasites pose a serious threat to host fitness, and natural selection should favour host traits that reduce infection or disease symptoms. Here, we provide the first evidence of trans-generational medication, in which animals actively use medicine to mitigate disease in their offspring. We studied monarch butterflies and their virulent protozoan parasites, and found that neither caterpillars nor adult butterflies could cure themselves of disease. Instead, adult butterflies preferentially laid their eggs on toxic plants that reduced parasite growth and disease in their offspring caterpillars. It has often been suggested that sick animals may use medication to cure themselves of disease, but evidence for the use of medication in nature has so far been scarce. Our results provide evidence that infected animals may indeed use medicine as a defence against parasites, and that such medication may target an individual’s offspring rather than the individual itself.
+++++
Professores, pesquisadores e alunos de universidades públicas e privadas com acesso ao site CAPES/Periódicos podem ler gratuitamente este artigo da Ecology Letters e de mais 22.440 publicações científicas.
+++++
Professores, pesquisadores e alunos de universidades públicas e privadas com acesso ao site CAPES/Periódicos podem ler gratuitamente este artigo da Ecology Letters e de mais 22.440 publicações científicas.
