Spiders and peppers also have something in common

On the outside, the tropical black spider and chili peppers are nothing like it. But exposure to both species causes a similar sense of pain.

Scientists at the University of California, USA, have discovered that both species use a common strategy to scare off enemies by causing pain.

Black spider venom Psalmopoeus cambridgei, living in Trinidad and Tobago, contains a receptor that activates receptors that cause pain on nerve cells throughout the body, just like chili. In chili, the main cause of spicy is capsaicin.

" We have identified a new mechanism that spider venom creates pain, and it is similar to the mechanism that chili plants use to create a similar feeling ," molecular biologist David Julius said. This suggests that both spiders and peppers have developed a similar mechanism to fend off enemies.

When Julius and his colleagues tested spider venom on cells containing receptors that caused pain. It produces a reaction, but on cells without receptors, there is no reaction.

The researchers also isolated three compounds from spider venom. When these substances are applied to the rat's nails, mice with receptors have pain and swelling. But mice that do not have that receptor do not react.

Researchers believe other spiders also have similar defenses.

MT