From a conservation perspective, it is important to identify when sub-lethal temperatures begin to adversely impact an organism. However, it is unclear whether, during acute exposures, sub-lethal cellular thresholds occur at similar temperatures to other physiological or behavioural changes, or at temperatures associated with common physiological endpoints measured in fishes to estimate thermal tolerance. To test this, we estimated temperature preference (15.1±1.1°C) using a shuttle box, agitation temperature (22.0±1.4°C) as the point where a fish exhibits a behavioural avoidance response and the CTmax (28.2±0.4°C) as the upper thermal limit for 1 yr old brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) acclimated to 10°C. We then acutely exposed a different subset of fish to the mean temperatures associated with the pre-determined physiological endpoints and sampled tissues when they reached the target temperature or after 60 min of recovery at 10°C for transcriptomic analysis. We used qPCR to estimate mRNA transcript levels of genes associated with heat shock proteins, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inducible transcription factors. A major shift in the transcriptome response occurred once the agitation temperature was reached, which may identify a possible link between the cellular stress response and the behavioural avoidance response.
Behavioural responses to acute warming precede critical shifts in the cellular and physiological thermal stress responses in a salmonid fish (brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis)
Sensory perception in a changing world – join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and the SEB satellite meeting. Find out more and register to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK. Submit your abstract by 17 January 2025. Early-bird registration ends on 17 January 2025.
Extraordinary creatures: mantis shrimp
In our new Conversation series focusing on extraordinary creatures, Tom Cronin and Sheila Patek tell us about the incredible biology of mantis shrimp, from their complex vision to their powerful striking abilities.
Behaviour as a physiological process
In this Commentary, Shamil Debaere & colleagues argue the case for integration of behaviour into animal physiology, and advocate for behaviour to be considered as a physiological process.
Tiny ring-necked snakes keep warm heads despite their size
Some ectotherms are able to raise the temperature of certain body parts above the temperature of other regions & now Christian Fox and Albert Chung, with undergraduates from the University of Virginia, reveal that the heads of tiny ring-necked snakes can be 2.1C warmer than their tails, even though they are only 20cm long.
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