科学美国人60秒:驯鹿唾液抑制毒素-托福听力下载

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　　科学美国人60秒中英文翻译：驯鹿唾液抑制毒素

　　科学美国人60秒英文文本

　　Reindeer spit is in the news.

　　Well, now it is.

　　You see, reindeer and moose eat plants that contain toxins entrusted with keeping the vegetation from being so desirable.

　　But now we know that the animals's aliva can prevent the production of those toxins.

　　The slick finding is in the journal Biology Letters.

　　Generally speaking, plants do not like to be eaten.

　　And many have defenses to avoid this fate.

　　驯鹿.jpg

　　The red fescue that's favored by European reindeer and moose maintains a mutually beneficial relationship with a fungus.

　　When the host plant gets munched on, the resident fungus churns out a toxin called ergovaline.

　　This chemical restricts blood flow to the grazer's extremities, which can lead to the loss of limbs.

　　But the battle doesn't end there.

　　Because researchers found that when reindeer and moose drool is dribbled over plants, ergovaline production goes way down.

　　The specific secret of the spit is still unsolved.

　　But the researchers think that compounds in the saliva interfere with the chemical signals that switch on toxin production when the plants get'et.

　　One thing they know for sure:

　　as they write in their report, and who can argue, the “salivary secretions of large mammals are more important than previously realized.”

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