Issues

Summary: V̇_O2,max, as a multigenetic phenotype, appears as an emergent property of the underlying transcriptomic networks inaccessible to being deciphered by gene-based approaches alone.

Summary: Aquatic hypoxic environments with similar oxygen and time duration dynamics appear to select for similar total hypoxic responses in distantly related species.

Summary: The performance-enhancing effect of caffeine is not improved following exercise training as shown by assessing the effects of 70 µmol l⁻¹ caffeine on muscle isolated from trained and untrained mice.

Summary: The greater the force-generating capacity of the medial compared with the lateral gastrocnemius, the stronger the bias of activation to the medial gastrocnemius. This coupling leads to a force imbalance between synergist muscles, the magnitude of which varies greatly between individuals.

Summary: mTOR signalling is a target of moult- and temperature-dependent effects in the eyestalk ganglia and Y-organ of Metacarcinus magister. The heart shows limited warm compensation, which may contribute to mortality at high temperatures.

Summary: Physiological, biochemical and molecular responses to cold and heat stresses on the liver of the giant spiny frog Quasipaa spinosa.

Summary: Taurine increases naturally in anoxic painted turtle brain and can activate both GABA and glycine receptors, which probably contributes to the mechanism of anoxia tolerance.

Summary: In the compound eye of the American cockroach, complex electrical interactions take place between green- and UV-sensitive photoreceptors in each ommatidium.

Highlighted Article: Freezing disrupts fat body cytoskeletal and lipid droplet structure, and acclimation lowers the temperature of this disruption. Survival may relate to cytoskeletal repair but not to lipid droplet morphology.

Summary: Raising offspring in golden hamsters comes at the cost of producing large amounts of body heat up to a level constraining energy intake.

Summary: A controlled feeding experiment in goats shows that the mesowear signal represents a stable dietary period longer than 6 months.

Summary: Polar cod is a key species in the Arctic ecosystem; its swimming capacity decreases under future water conditions, likely reducing its survival.

Summary: The dorso-lateral quadrant of the Manduca sexta eye is required for optomotor responses and the dorsal half of the compound eye is necessary for free-flight behavior.

Summary: The first quantification of insect hemolymph viscosity indicates that it shows a strong dependence on temperature at low values only (≤15°C).

Summary: Aquatic and terrestrial crabs experience different mechanical challenges that have little impact on their rigid skeleton but significant consequences for their hydrostatic skeleton that may constrain terrestrial crab size.

Summary: Identification and characterization of two histamine-gated chloride channels in the visual system of Papilio; both channels respond to histamine as well as to GABA.

Summary: Fish head width, which varies widely across species, influences how the lateral line canal system can sense both steady and vortical flows.

Summary: Superb starling parental and alloparental care does not result in a short-term physiological cost. Instead, glucocorticoid hormones during incubation shape investment in offspring care behaviours.

Summary: Nutritional optima diverge among various life-history traits expressed at larval and adult stages in fruit flies, providing evidence for nutrient-mediated life-history trade-offs.

Highlighted Article: Characterisation of hitherto unknown phonotactic responses of antlions to pulsed ultrasound, including behavioural threshold curves and a quantitative evaluation of their effectiveness as a defence against echolocating bats.