Digger wasp versus cricket: mechanisms underlying the total paralysis caused by the predator's venom

Journal of Neurobiology
M FerberW Gnatzy

Abstract

The data presented here describe neurophysiological experiments addressing the question of cellular mechanisms underlying the total paralysis of locomotor behavior in crickets occurring after being stung by females of the digger wasp species Liris niger. The Liris venom effects have been studied by both in vivo recordings from identified neurons of the well-described giant fiber pathway and in vitro recordings from cultured neurons isolated from the terminal ganglion of crickets. The total paralysis of the prey is characterized by a general block of action potential generation as well as by a block of synaptic transmission. Intracellular recordings from neurons in intact ganglia under single electrode voltage-clamp conditions, as well as whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from cultured cricket neurons consistently show that the block of action potential generation by the Liris venom is due to a block of voltage-gated sodium inward currents in neurons of the stung ganglia. Furthermore, our data provide evidence that the Liris venom also blocks calcium currents in identified neurosecretory neurons. On the other hand, outward currents are not affected by the Liris venom. The in vitro recordings suggest that the Liris venom contains...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 8, 2014·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Frederic Libersat, Ram Gal
Jul 2, 2015·Toxins·Sébastien J M Moreau, Sassan Asgari
Jan 12, 2020·BMC Genomics·Andrea BecchimanziFrancesco Pennacchio

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