First published online May 8, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 1768-1775 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.001719
The scent of danger: arginine as an olfactory cue of reduced predation risk
Ryan P. Ferrer1 and
Richard K. Zimmer1,2,*
1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California,
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
2 Neurosciences Program and Brain Research Institute, University of
California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA

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Fig. 2. Percentage of larvae swimming in response to 107 mol
l1 tetrodotoxin (TTX) or tapwater (control). Inert silicon
gel was applied either to the forehead (control) or to the external nares of
larvae to block nasal cavities. Asterisk denotes a significant difference
between larval responses to TTX and tapwater, using a Fisher exact test
(P<0.001).
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Fig. 3. Percentage of larvae swimming in response to 107 mol
l1 tetrodotoxin (TTX), a binary mixture of
107 mol l1 TTX + 107 mol
l1 arginine, 107 mol l1
arginine alone, or tapwater (control). Asterisk denotes a significant
difference between larval responses to test and tapwater (control) solutions,
using a Fisher exact test (P<0.001).
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Fig. 4. Effects of concentration on percentage of larvae swimming in response to
arginine alone (open circles), or a binary mixture of arginine +
107 mol l1 tetrodotoxin (TTX; closed
circles). Tapwater (open triangle) and 107 mol
l1 TTX (alone, open square) served as controls. Results of
statistical comparisons are provided in the text.
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Fig. 5. Percentage of larvae swimming in response to 107 mol
l1 tetrodotoxin (TTX; alone), or binary mixtures of
107 mol l1 TTX + 107 mol
l1 arginine (or an arginine analog) and tapwater (control).
Asterisks denote a significant difference between larval responses to test and
tapwater (control) solutions, using a Fisher exact test (P<0.01).
Lys, lysine; GA, guanidinacetate; AS, agmatine; HA, homoarginine; Guan,
guanidine; GB, guanidinobutyrate; Arg, arginine.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007