Transgenic expression of late embryogenesis abundant proteins improves tolerance to water stress in Drosophila melanogaster [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
In conclusion, the gain of function studies reported here show LEA proteins can improve tolerance to water stress in a desiccation-sensitive species that normally lacks these proteins, and simultaneously, underscore the complexity of desiccation tolerance across multiple life stages in multicellular organisms. (Source: Journal of Experimental Biology)
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 11, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Anderson, J. M., Hand, S. C. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Early-life effects of juvenile Western diet and exercise on adult gut microbiome composition in mice [Research Article]
Monica P. McNamara, Jennifer M. Singleton, Marcell D. Cadney, Paul M. Ruegger, James Borneman, and Theodore Garland Jr. Alterations to the gut microbiome caused by changes in diet, consumption of antibiotics, etc., can affect host function. Moreover, perturbation of the microbiome during critical developmental periods potentially have long-lasting impacts on hosts. Using four selectively bred High Runner and four non-selected Control lines of mice, we examined the effects of early-life diet and exercise manipulations on the adult microbiome by sequencing the hypervariable Internal Transcribed Spacer region of the bacterial...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 11, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: McNamara, M. P., Singleton, J. M., Cadney, M. D., Ruegger, P. M., Borneman, J., Garland, T. Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Life-long exposure to hypoxia affects metabolism and respiratory physiology across life stages in high-altitude deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
We examined this issue in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) from a population native to high altitude. Mice were bred in captivity in one of three treatment groups: normoxia (controls), life-long hypoxia (~12 kPa O2 from conception to adulthood) and parental hypoxia (normoxia from conception to adulthood, but parents previously exposed to hypoxia). Metabolic, thermoregulatory and ventilatory responses to progressive stepwise hypoxia and haematology were then measured at post-natal day (P) 14 and 30 and/or in adulthood. Life-long hypoxia had consistent effects across ages on metabolism, attenuating the declines i...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 7, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Ivy, C. M., Scott, G. R. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Task-dependent vocal adjustments to optimize biosonar-based information acquisition [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
Daniel Lewanzik and Holger R. Goerlitz
Animals need to acquire adequate and sufficient information to guide movements, yet information acquisition and processing are costly. Animals thus face a trade-off between gathering too little and too much information and, accordingly, actively adapt sensory input through motor control. Echolocating animals provide a unique opportunity to study the dynamics of adaptive sensing in naturally behaving animals, as every change in the outgoing echolocation signal directly affects information acquisition and the perception of the dynamic acoustic scene. Here, we investigated the flexibili...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 7, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Lewanzik, D., Goerlitz, H. R. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia and submersion bradycardia in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
Ashley M. Blawas, Douglas P. Nowacek, Austin S. Allen, Julie Rocho-Levine, and Andreas Fahlman
Among the many factors that influence the cardiovascular adjustments of marine mammals is the act of respiration at the surface, which facilitates rapid gas exchange and tissue re-perfusion between dives. We measured heart rate (fH) in six adult male bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) spontaneously breathing at the surface to quantify the relationship between respiration and fH, and compared this with fH during submerged breath-holds. We found that dolphins exhibit a pronounced respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during sur...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 7, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Blawas, A. M., Nowacek, D. P., Allen, A. S., Rocho-Levine, J., Fahlman, A. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Monoterpenes alter TAR1-driven physiology in Drosophila species [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
In conclusion, it appears that monoterpenes not only act as biopesticides for Drosophila but also can interfere with Drosophila behaviour and metabolism in a TAR1-dependent fashion. (Source: Journal of Experimental Biology)
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 7, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Finetti, L., Tiedemann, L., Zhang, X., Civolani, S., Bernacchia, G., Roeder, T. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
The gut-brain axis in vertebrates: implications for food intake regulation [REVIEW]
Ayelen Melisa Blanco, Jessica Calo, and Jose Luis Soengas
The gut and brain are constantly communicating and influencing each other through neural, endocrine and immune signals in an interaction referred to as the gut–brain axis. Within this communication system, the gastrointestinal tract, including the gut microbiota, sends information on energy status to the brain, which, after integrating these and other inputs, transmits feedback to the gastrointestinal tract. This allows the regulation of food intake and other physiological processes occurring in the gastrointestinal tract, including motility, secretion, diges...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 7, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Blanco, A. M., Calo, J., Soengas, J. L. Tags: REVIEW Source Type: research
Interplays between pre- and post-natal environments affect early-life mortality, body mass and telomere dynamics in the wild [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
We examined the effects of these manipulations on early-life survival, growth and telomere length, a potential cellular biomarker of fitness prospects. Mortality was mostly affected by hatching order, with last-hatched chicks being more likely to die. Early-life telomere dynamics and growth were influenced by the interplays between laying and hatching order. Last-laid but first-hatched chicks were heavier but had shorter telomeres 5 days after hatching than their siblings, indicating rapid early growth with potential adverse consequences on telomere length. Synchronous chicks did not suffer any apparent cost of hatchi...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 6, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Kärkkäinen, T., Teerikorpi, P., Schuett, W., Stier, A., Laaksonen, T. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
The influence of sagittal trunk lean on uneven running mechanics [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
This study compared the running mechanics during the approach step to and the step down for a 10 cm expected drop, positioned halfway through a 15 m runway, with that of the level step in 12 participants at a speed of 3.5 m s–1 while maintaining self-selected (17.7±4.2 deg; mean±s.d.), posterior (1.8±7.4 deg) and anterior (26.6±5.6 deg) trunk leans from the vertical. Our findings reveal that the global (i.e. the spring-mass model dynamics and centre-of-mass height) and local (i.e. knee and ankle kinematics and kinetics) biomechanical adjustments during un...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 6, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: AminiAghdam, S., Blickhan, R., Karamanidis, K. Tags: Comparative biomechanics of movement RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
The human foot functions like a spring of adjustable stiffness during running [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
Nicholas B. Holowka, Alexander Richards, Benjamin E. Sibson, and Daniel E. Lieberman
Like other animals, humans use their legs like springs to save energy during running. One potential contributor to leg stiffness in humans is the longitudinal arch (LA) of the foot. Studies of cadaveric feet have demonstrated that the LA can function like a spring, but it is unknown whether humans can adjust LA stiffness in coordination with more proximal joints to help control leg stiffness during running. Here, we used 3D motion capture to record 27 adult participants running on a forceplate-instrumented treadmill, and calculated LA sti...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 6, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Holowka, N. B., Richards, A., Sibson, B. E., Lieberman, D. E. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Rapid toxin sequestration modifies poison frog physiology [SHORT COMMUNICATION]
Lauren A. O'Connell, LS50: Integrated Science Laboratory Course, Jeremy D. O'Connell, Joao A. Paulo, Sunia A. Trauger, Steven P. Gygi, and Andrew W. Murray Poison frogs sequester chemical defenses from their diet of leaf litter arthropods for defense against predation. Little is known about the physiological adaptations that confer this unusual bioaccumulation ability. We conducted an alkaloid-feeding experiment with the Diablito poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica) to determine how quickly alkaloids are accumulated and how toxins modify frog physiology using quantitative proteomics. Diablito frogs rapidly accumulated the alka...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 6, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: O'Connell, L. A., LS50: Integrated Science Laboratory Course, O'Connell, J. D., Paulo, J. A., Trauger, S. A., Gygi, S. P., Murray, A. W. Tags: SHORT COMMUNICATION Source Type: research
A novel degree of sex difference in laryngeal physiology of Xenopus muelleri: behavioral and evolutionary implications [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
Kelly E. South, Bernhard Klingenberg, and Elizabeth C. Leininger Characterizing sex and species differences in muscle physiology can contribute to a better understanding of proximate mechanisms underlying behavioral evolution. In Xenopus, the laryngeal muscle's ability to contract rapidly and its electromyogram potentiation allows males to produce calls that are more rapid and intensity-modulated than female calls. Prior comparative studies have shown that some species lacking typical male features of vocalizations sometimes show reduced sex differences in underlying laryngeal physiology. To further understand the evolutio...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 6, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: South, K. E., Klingenberg, B., Leininger, E. C. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Does the Preferred Walk-Run Transition Speed on Steep Inclines Minimize Energetic Cost, Heart Rate or Neither? [RESEARCH ARTICLE]
Jackson W. Brill and Rodger Kram Humans prefer to walk at slow speeds and to run at fast speeds. In between, there is a speed at which people choose to transition between gaits, the Preferred Transition Speed (PTS). At slow speeds, it is energetically cheaper to walk and at faster speeds, it is cheaper to run. Thus, there is an intermediate speed, the Energetically Optimal Transition Speed (EOTS). Our goals were to determine: 1) how PTS and EOTS compare across a wide range of inclines and 2) if the EOTS can be predicted by the heart rate optimal transition speed (HROTS). Ten healthy, high-caliber, male trail/mountain runne...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 6, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Brill, J. W., Kram, R. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Fish want to see the light at the end of the tunnel [OUTSIDE JEB]
Noah Bressman (Source: Journal of Experimental Biology)
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 4, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Bressman, N. Tags: OUTSIDE JEB Source Type: research
Ogre-faced spiders listen with their legs [OUTSIDE JEB]
Ellen Lesser (Source: Journal of Experimental Biology)
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - January 4, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Lesser, E. Tags: OUTSIDE JEB Source Type: research
