The asynchronous muscles of insects are characterized by asynchrony between muscle electrical and mechanical activity, a fibrillar organization with poorly developed sarcoplasmic reticulum, a slow time course of isometric contraction, low isometric force, high passive stiffness and delayed stretch activation and shortening deactivation. These properties are illustrated by comparing an asynchronous muscle, the basalar flight muscle of the beetle Cotinus mutabilis, with synchronous wing muscles from the locust, Schistocerca americana. Because of delayed stretch activation and shortening deactivation, a tetanically stimulated beetle muscle can do work when subjected to repetitive lengthening and shortening. The synchronous locust muscle, subjected to similar stimulation and length change, absorbs rather than produces work.
REFERENCES
Cullen
M. J.
(1974
). The distribution of asynchronous muscle in insects with particular reference to the Hemiptera: an electron microscope study
. J. Ent. A
49
, 17
–.Dickinson
M. H.
, Tu
M. S.
(1997
). The function of dipteran flight muscle
. Comp. Biochem. Physiol
116
, 223
–.Fine
M. L.
, Mosca
P. J.
(1989
). Anatomical study of the innervation pattern of the sonic muscle of the oyster toadfish
. Brain Behav. Evol
34
, 265
–.Full
R. J.
, Stokes
D. R.
, Ahn
A. A.
, Josephson
R. K.
(1998
). Asynchronous muscle 2721Energy absorption during running by leg muscles in a cockroach
. J. Exp. Biol
201
, 997
–.Granzier
H. L. M.
, Wang
K.
(1993
). Interplay between passive tension and strong and weak binding cross-bridges in indirect flight muscle
. J. Gen. Physiol
101
, 235
–.Ikeda
K.
, Boettiger
E. G.
(1965
). Studies on the flight mechanism of insects. II. The innervation and electrical activity of the fibrillar muscles of the bumble bee, Bombus
. J. Insect Physiol
11
, 779
–.Josephson
R. K.
(1984
). Contraction dynamics of flight and stridulatory muscles of tettigoniid insects
. J. Exp. Biol
108
, 77
–.Josephson
R. K.
(1993
). Contraction dynamics and power output of skeletal muscle
. Annu. Rev. Physiol
55
, 527
–.Josephson
R. K.
(1995
). The mechanical power output of a tettigoniid wing muscle during singing and flight
. J. Exp. Biol
117
, 357
–.Josephson
R. K.
(1997
). Power output from a flight muscle of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. II. Characterization of the parameters affecting power output
. J. Exp. Biol
200
, 1227
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Ellington
C. P.
(1997
). Power output from a flight muscle of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. I. Some features of the dorso-ventral flight muscle
. J. Exp. Biol
200
, 1215
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Halverson
R. C.
(1971
). High frequency muscles used in sound production by a katydid. I. Organization of the motor system
. Biol. Bull
141
, 411
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Malamud
J. G.
, Stokes
D. R.
(2000
). Power output by an asynchronous flight muscle from a beetle
. J. Exp. Biol
203
, 2667
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Stokes
D. R.
(1989
). Strain, muscle length and work output in a crab muscle
. J. Exp. Biol
145
, 45
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Stokes
D. R.
(1999
). The force—velocity properties of a crustacean muscle during lengthening
. J. Exp. Biol
202
, 593
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Stokes
D. R.
(1999
). Work-dependent deactivation of a crustacean muscle
. J. Exp. Biol
202
, 2551
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Young
D.
(1981
). Synchronous and asynchronous muscles in cicadas
. J. Exp. Biol
91
, 219
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Young
D.
(1985
). A synchronous insect muscle with an operating frequency greater than 500Hz
. J. Exp. Biol
118
, 185
–.Josephson
R. K.
, Young
D.
(1987
). Fiber ultrastructure and contraction kinetics in insect fast muscles
. Am. Zool
27
, 991
–.Kawai
M.
, Brandt
P. W.
(1980
). Sinusoidal analysis: a high-resolution method for correlating biochemical reactions with physiological processes in activated skeletal muscles of rabbit, frog and crayfish
. J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil
1
, 279
–.Lindstedt
S. L.
, McGlothlin
T.
, Percy
E.
, Pifer
J.
(1998
). Task-specific design of skeletal muscle: balancing muscle structural composition
. Comp. Biochem. Physiol
120
, 35
–.Machin
K. E.
, Pringle
J. W. S.
(1959
). The physiology of insect fibrillar muscle. II. Mechanical properties of a beetle flight muscle
. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B
151
, 204
–.Malamud
J. G.
, Josephson
R. K.
(1991
). Force—velocity relationships of a locust flight muscle at different times during a twitch contraction
. J. Exp. Biol
159
, 65
–.Moore
J. R.
, Vigoreaux
J. O.
, Maughan
D. W.
(1999
). The Drosophila projectin mutant, bentD, has reduced stretch activation and altered indirect flight muscle mechanics
. J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil
20
, 797
–.Peckham
M.
, Molloy
J. E.
, Sparrow
J. C.
, White
D. C. S.
(1990
). Physiological properties of the dorsal longitudinal flight muscle and the tergal depressor of the trochanter muscle of Drosophila melanogaster
. J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil
11
, 203
–.Pringle
J. W. S.
(1967
). The contractile mechanism of insect fibrillar muscle
. Prog. Biophys. Mol. Biol
17
, 3
–.Pringle
J. W. S.
(1981
). The evolution of fibrillar muscle in insects
. J. Exp. Biol
94
, 1
–.Roeder
K. D.
(1951
). Movements of the thorax and potential changes in the thoracic muscles of insects during flight
. Biol. Bull
100
, 95
–.Rome
L. C.
, Syme
D. A.
, Hollingworth
S.
, Lindstedt
S. L.
, Baylor
S. M.
(1996
). The whistle and the rattle: The design of sound producing muscles
. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
93
, 8095
–.Rosenbluth
J.
(1969
). Sarcoplasmic reticulum of an unusually fast-acting crustacean muscle
. J. Cell Biol
42
, 534
–.Schaeffer
P. J.
, Conley
K. E.
, Lindstedt
S. L.
(1996
). Structural correlates of speed and endurance in skeletal muscle: the rattlesnake tail shaker muscle
. J. Exp. Biol
199
, 351
–.Sotavalta
O.
(1953
). Recordings of high wing-stroke and thoracicvibration frequency in some midges
. Biol. Bull
104
, 439
–.Stokes
D. R.
, Malamud
J. G.
, Schreihofer
D. A.
(1994
). Gender specific developmental transformation of a cockroach bifunctional muscle
. J. Exp. Zool
268
, 364
–.
This content is only available via PDF.
© 2000 by Company of Biologists
2000
-HUBSwebinar.jpg?versionId=4510)
-BioCommunicationWorkshop.png?versionId=4510)
