The rate of hepatic glucose production (R(a)glucose) was measured by continuous infusions of 6-[(3)H]glucose in live rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) before, during and after swimming for 3 h at 1.5 body lengths s(−)(1) in a swim tunnel. Contrary to expectation, we found that sustained swimming causes a 33 % decline in the R(a),(glucose) of trout (from 7.6+/−2.1 to 5.1+/−1.3 (μ)mol kg(−)(1)min(−)(1), means +/− s.e.m., N=7), even though exercise of the same intensity elicits a two- to fourfold increase in all the mammalian species investigated to date. Measurements of catecholamine levels show that circulating [epinephrine] decreases by 30 % during exercise (from 4.7+/−0.3 to 3.3+/−0.4 nmol l(−)(1), N=8), suggesting that this hormone is partly responsible for controlling the decline in R(a)glucose. The inhibiting effect of swimming on hepatic glucose production persists for at least 1 h after the cessation of exercise. In addition, rainbow trout can maintain a steady blood glucose concentration throughout sustained exercise by closely matching hepatic glucose production with peripheral glucose utilization, even though this species is generally considered to be a poor glucoregulator. This study provides the first continuous measurements of glucose kinetics during the transition from rest to work in an ectotherm and it suggests that circulating glucose is not an important fuel for aerobic locomotion in trout.
In the field: an interview with Martha Muñoz
Martha Muñoz is an Assistant Professor at Yale University, investigating the evolutionary biology of anole lizards and lungless salamanders. In our new Conversation, she talks about her fieldwork in Indonesia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and the Appalachian Mountains, including a death-defying dash to the top of a mountain through an approaching hurricane.
Graham Scott in conversation with Big Biology
Graham Scott talks to Big Biology about the oxygen cascade in mice living on mountaintops, extreme environments for such small organisms. In this JEB-sponsored episode, they discuss the concept of symmorphosis and the evolution of the oxygen cascade.
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Our Workshops bring together leading experts and early-career researchers from a range of scientific backgrounds. Applications are now open to propose Workshops for 2024, one of which will be held in a Global South country.
Manipulation of mitochondrial function affects red carotenoid metabolism in a marine copepod
Tigriopus californicus copepods with the most powerful mitochondria are the brightest red, providing an honest and direct link between the attractiveness of a creature and their metabolic prowess.
The physiological cost of colour change
In their Review, Ateah Alfakih, Penelope Watt and Nicola Nadeau discuss the energetic cost of colour change and highlight how this can be avoided or lessened in animals that change colour rapidly or slowly.
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