The scent of wolves: pyrazine analogs induce avoidance and vigilance behaviors in prey

• Published in: Frontiers in Neuroscience
• Main Authors: Kazumi eOsada, Sadaharu eMiyazono, Makoto eKashiwayanagi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
• Subjects: Fear; Wolf; Hokkaido deer; kairomone; pyrazine analogs; Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry; RC321-571; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2015.00363; https://doaj.org/article/45e9900295784a50a240225715ea14e5

The common grey wolf (Canis lupus) is an apex predator located at the top of the food chain in the Northern Hemisphere. It preys on rodents, rabbits, ungulates, and many other kinds of mammal. However, the behavioral evidence for, and the chemical basis of, the fear-inducing impact of wolf urine on prey are unclear. Recently, the pyrazine analogs 2, 6-dimethylpyrazine, 2, 3, 5-trimethylpyrazine and 3-ethyl-2, 5-dimethyl pyrazine were identified as kairomones in the urine of wolves. When mice were confronted with a mixture of purified pyrazine analogs, vigilance behaviors, including freezing and excitation of neurons at the accessory olfactory bulb, were markedly increased. Additionally, the odor of the pyrazine cocktail effectively suppressed the approach of deer to a feeding area, and for those close to the feeding area elicited fear-related behaviors such as the tail-flag, flight, and jump actions. In this review, we discuss the transfer of chemical information from wolf to prey through the novel kairomones identified in wolf urine and also compare the characteristics of wolf kairomones with other predator-produced kairomones that affect rodents.