Question

The Huaorani Indians of South America use blowguns to shoot darts poisoned with curare at monkeys.

Curare is a plant toxin that binds to and inactivates
nicotinic ACh receptors. What happens to a monkey struck by one of these darts?

Answer 1

A monkey struck by a dart poisoned with curare will experience flaccid paralysis due to the toxin's inactivation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, leading to muscle weakness and potentially fatal respiratory failure.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a monkey is struck by a dart poisoned with curare, the toxin binds to and inactivates nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors, which are essential for muscle contraction. Curare is a plant toxin whose active ingredient is d-tubocurarine. This binding prevents ACh from attaching to its receptors at the neuromuscular junction, resulting in a disruption of nerve impulses and eventually causing flaccid paralysis of the muscles. As a result, the monkey is likely to experience muscle weakness and lose the ability to move, which can be fatal if the respiratory muscles are affected and the monkey cannot breathe.