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A mammalian blood odor component serves as an approach-avoidance cue across phylum border - From flies to humans

Arshamian, Artin ; Laska, Matthias ; Gordon, Amy R. ; Norberg, Matilda ; Lahger, Christian ; Porada, Danja K. ; Jelvez, Nadia LU ; Johansson, Emilia ; Schaefer, H Martin and Amundin, Mats , et al. (2017) In Scientific Reports 7(1).
Abstract

Chemosignals are used by predators to localize prey and by prey to avoid predators. These cues vary between species, but the odor of blood seems to be an exception and suggests the presence of an evolutionarily conserved chemosensory cue within the blood odor mixture. A blood odor component, E2D, has been shown to trigger approach responses identical to those triggered by the full blood odor in mammalian carnivores and as such, is a key candidate as a food/alarm cue in blood. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we demonstrate that E2D holds the dual function of affecting both approach and avoidance behavior in a predator-prey predicted manner. E2D evokes approach responses in two taxonomically distant blood-seeking predators, Stable fly... (More)

Chemosignals are used by predators to localize prey and by prey to avoid predators. These cues vary between species, but the odor of blood seems to be an exception and suggests the presence of an evolutionarily conserved chemosensory cue within the blood odor mixture. A blood odor component, E2D, has been shown to trigger approach responses identical to those triggered by the full blood odor in mammalian carnivores and as such, is a key candidate as a food/alarm cue in blood. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we demonstrate that E2D holds the dual function of affecting both approach and avoidance behavior in a predator-prey predicted manner. E2D evokes approach responses in two taxonomically distant blood-seeking predators, Stable fly and Wolf, while evoking avoidance responses in the prey species Mouse. We extend this by demonstrating that this chemical cue is preserved in humans as well; E2D induces postural avoidance, increases physiological arousal, and enhances visual perception of affective stimuli. This is the first demonstration of a single chemical cue with the dual function of guiding both approach and avoidance in a predator-prey predicted manner across taxonomically distant species, as well as the first known chemosignal that affects both human and non-human animals alike.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
7
issue
1
article number
13653
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85032036741
  • pmid:29057956
  • wos:000413357500001
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-017-13361-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
851d79a0-209b-42ec-88a7-5947f4e0e50d
date added to LUP
2017-11-02 12:04:36
date last changed
2024-01-14 08:56:42
@article{851d79a0-209b-42ec-88a7-5947f4e0e50d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Chemosignals are used by predators to localize prey and by prey to avoid predators. These cues vary between species, but the odor of blood seems to be an exception and suggests the presence of an evolutionarily conserved chemosensory cue within the blood odor mixture. A blood odor component, E2D, has been shown to trigger approach responses identical to those triggered by the full blood odor in mammalian carnivores and as such, is a key candidate as a food/alarm cue in blood. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we demonstrate that E2D holds the dual function of affecting both approach and avoidance behavior in a predator-prey predicted manner. E2D evokes approach responses in two taxonomically distant blood-seeking predators, Stable fly and Wolf, while evoking avoidance responses in the prey species Mouse. We extend this by demonstrating that this chemical cue is preserved in humans as well; E2D induces postural avoidance, increases physiological arousal, and enhances visual perception of affective stimuli. This is the first demonstration of a single chemical cue with the dual function of guiding both approach and avoidance in a predator-prey predicted manner across taxonomically distant species, as well as the first known chemosignal that affects both human and non-human animals alike.</p>}},
  author       = {{Arshamian, Artin and Laska, Matthias and Gordon, Amy R. and Norberg, Matilda and Lahger, Christian and Porada, Danja K. and Jelvez, Nadia and Johansson, Emilia and Schaefer, H Martin and Amundin, Mats and Melin, Harald and Olsson, Andreas and Olsson, Mats J. and Stensmyr, Marcus and Lundström, Johan N.}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{A mammalian blood odor component serves as an approach-avoidance cue across phylum border - From flies to humans}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13361-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-017-13361-9}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}