美国哈佛大学Nicholas W. Bellono研究小组报道了环境微生物组驱动章鱼的趋化反应感觉。相关论文于2025年6月17日发表在《细胞》杂志上。

研究小组报告了来自生态相关表面微生物群的分泌信号激活CRs来指导章鱼的行为。从单个细菌菌株中分离出的不同分子位于猎物或卵上，以细微不同的结构构象与单个CR结合，从而引发受体激活、离子渗透和信号转导的特定机制，以及母性护理和捕食行为。因此，生态表面上的微生物组在初级感觉受体的水平上起作用，以通知行为。他们的研究表明，揭示界间的相互作用对于理解动物感官系统如何在一个微生物丰富的世界中进化是至关重要的。

据了解，微生物群落几乎覆盖了环境的每一个表面，并在进化过程中与动物共存。动物是否利用无处不在的微生物线索来导航周围环境还不太清楚。章鱼的主题是“触觉味觉”化学反应受体（CRs）来探索海底，但它们如何从遇到的岩石和裂缝中区分有意义的表面尚不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Environmental microbiomes drive chemotactile sensation in octopus

Author: Rebecka J. Sepela, Hao Jiang, Yern-Hyerk Shin, Tessa L. Hautala, Jon Clardy, Ryan E. Hibbs, Nicholas W. Bellono

Issue&Volume: 2025-06-17

Abstract: Microbial communities coat nearly every surface in the environment and have co-existed with animals throughout evolution. Whether animals exploit omnipresent microbial cues to navigate their surroundings is not well understood. Octopuses use “taste-by-touch” chemotactile receptors (CRs) to explore the seafloor, but how they distinguish meaningful surfaces from the rocks and crevices they encounter is unknown. Here, we report that secreted signals from microbiomes of ecologically relevant surfaces activate CRs to guide octopus behavior. Distinct molecules isolated from individual bacterial strains located on prey or eggs bind single CRs in subtly different structural conformations to elicit specific mechanisms of receptor activation, ion permeation and signal transduction, and maternal care and predation behavior. Thus, microbiomes on ecological surfaces act at the level of primary sensory receptors to inform behavior. Our study demonstrates that uncovering interkingdom interactions is essential to understanding how animal sensory systems evolved in a microbe-rich world.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.033

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00620-8