Dataset Information

Detection and avoidance of a carnivore odor by prey.

ABSTRACT: Predator-prey relationships provide a classic paradigm for the study of innate animal behavior. Odors from carnivores elicit stereotyped fear and avoidance responses in rodents, although sensory mechanisms involved are largely unknown. Here, we identified a chemical produced by predators that activates a mouse olfactory receptor and produces an innate behavioral response. We purified this predator cue from bobcat urine and identified it to be a biogenic amine, 2-phenylethylamine. Quantitative HPLC analysis across 38 mammalian species indicates enriched 2-phenylethylamine production by numerous carnivores, with some producing >3,000-fold more than herbivores examined. Calcium imaging of neuronal responses in mouse olfactory tissue slices identified dispersed carnivore odor-selective sensory neurons that also responded to 2-phenylethylamine. Two prey species, rat and mouse, avoid a 2-phenylethylamine odor source, and loss-of-function studies involving enzymatic depletion of 2-phenylethylamine from a carnivore odor indicate it to be required for full avoidance behavior. Thus, rodent olfactory sensory neurons and chemosensory receptors have the capacity for recognizing interspecies odors. One such cue, carnivore-derived 2-phenylethylamine, is a key component of a predator odor blend that triggers hard-wired aversion circuits in the rodent brain. These data show how a single, volatile chemical detected in the environment can drive an elaborate danger-associated behavioral response in mammals.

SUBMITTER: Ferrero DM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3131382 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Detection and avoidance of a carnivore odor by prey.

Ferrero David M DM Lemon Jamie K JK Fluegge Daniela D Pashkovski Stan L SL Korzan Wayne J WJ Datta Sandeep Robert SR Spehr Marc M Fendt Markus M Liberles Stephen D SD

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110620 27

Predator-prey relationships provide a classic paradigm for the study of innate animal behavior. Odors from carnivores elicit stereotyped fear and avoidance responses in rodents, although sensory mechanisms involved are largely unknown. Here, we identified a chemical produced by predators that activates a mouse olfactory receptor and produces an innate behavioral response. We purified this predator cue from bobcat urine and identified it to be a biogenic amine, 2-phenylethylamine. Quantitative HP ...[more]

PMID: 21690383

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Dataset Information

Detection and avoidance of a carnivore odor by prey.

Publications

Detection and avoidance of a carnivore odor by prey.

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