Ionotropic glutamate receptors mediate inducible defense in the water flea Daphnia pulex.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypic plasticity is the ability held in many organisms to produce different phenotypes with a given genome in response to environmental stimuli, such as temperature, nutrition and various biological interactions. It seems likely that environmental signals induce a variety of mechanistic responses that influence ontogenetic processes. Inducible defenses, in which prey animals alter their morphology, behavior and/or other traits to help protect against direct or latent predation threats, are among the most striking examples of phenotypic plasticity. The freshwater microcrustacean Daphnia pulex forms tooth-like defensive structures, "neckteeth," in response to chemical cues or signals, referred to as "kairomones," in this case released from phantom midge larvae, a predator of D. pulex. T

SUBMITTER: Miyakawa H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4370714 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature