Issues

Summary: A review of the revolutionary advances in our knowledge of the evolution of neuropeptide signalling systems that have been enabled by comparative genomics and neuropeptide receptor deorphanisation.

Summary: Neuropeptides are the largest class of neuromodulators in nervous systems. Here we review the general principles and mechanistic insights that have emerged from studies of various animal models and discuss some of the outstanding major challenges.

Summary: This Review discusses a range of molecular aspects of neuropeptide biology and integrates techniques, model organisms and applications, highlighting new perspectives enabled by technical advancements in neuropeptide research.

Highlighted Article: During running, humans take higher leaps in normal gravity than in reduced gravity, in order to optimally balance the competing costs of stance and leg-swing work.

Summary: Sociability and nestmate affiliation in honey bees are influenced by social experience and exposure to the hive environment in early adult life.

Summary: Nose-emitting bats without an obvious means of emitting a narrow bio-sonar beam still emit a highly directional beam, potentially by emitting sound through the mouth as well as the nostrils.

Summary: Severity and duration of CO₂ exposure influence calcification and respiration differentially in Limacina retroversa, as shown by organismal and gene expression responses, while captivity interactively influences respiration and gene expression.

Editors' Choice: Appetite loss during illness occurs in all animals. It may be an important protection against food toxins. Mobilizing immune defense depresses the ability to detoxify food (as shown in caterpillars).

Summary: Ants form an associative memory of a visual cue paired with a reward through classical conditioning. This allows visual associative learning to be studied in fixed rather than free-moving ants.

Summary: Behavioural tests combined with cellular and molecular electrophysiology clarify molecular mechanisms that control fish feeding, revealing two partially competitive mechanisms originating from the same neural receptor.

Highlighted Article: A stable-isotope-labeled tracer reveals the mechanism for omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) limitation in a wild avian insectivore, showing that HUFAs are an ecologically essential nutrient.

Summary: The paradox of how an active tropical fish can meet its oxygen requirements using gills with an apparently small surface area is explained.