This is.

This is Scientific Americans 60 Second Science.

I'm Karen Hopkins.

This will just take a minute.

Rain deer 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 animal's saliva can prevent

the production of those toxins.

The slick findings in the journal Biology Letters.

Generally speaking, plants do not like to be eaten, and many have defenses to avoid this fate.

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 ergoveoline.

This chemical restricts blood flow to the grazers 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, ergo veiling 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 quote, salivary secretions of large mammals are more important than previously realized.

Thanks for the minute.

For Scientific Americans 60 Second Science, I'm Karen Hopkins.

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