Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: In this induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) version of the tree of life, a representative somatic cell (centre of tree trunk) can be reprogrammed by the overexpression of four transcription factors - OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and cMYC - to become an iPSC, which can then proliferate and differentiate into various cell types (e.g. neurons, muscle fibres, red blood cells). Stem cell technologies have the potential to create iPSCs from many species and Ou et al. (jeb196493) review how this enables comparative studies on species-specific cellular physiological features in the culture dish. Graphic design: Jingxing Ou and Pixeland Digital Production Ltd (Shenzhen, China).
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Induced pluripotent stem cells as a tool for comparative physiology: lessons from the thirteen-lined ground squirrel
Summary: Stem cell techniques could benefit comparative studies of unconventional organisms. As an example, here we describe some key considerations in deriving and utilizing induced pluripotent stem cells from a hibernator.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Surpassing the subitizing threshold: appetitive–aversive conditioning improves discrimination of numerosities in honeybees
Highlighted Article: Appetitive–aversive differential conditioning enables honeybees to learn discrimination of quantities 1–10; however, classic appetitive conditioning does not allow bees to learn this same numerical task.
Brain cooling marginally increases acute upper thermal tolerance in Atlantic cod
Summary: Selective cooling of cod brain during whole-animal thermal ramping marginally increases acute upper thermal tolerance, suggesting that direct thermal effects on brain neurons may contribute to the acute upper thermal tolerance.
Drivers of the dive response in trained harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena)
Summary: Harbour porpoise diving bradycardia is initiated with blowhole submergence rather than apnoea alone, while surface tachycardia is only fully obtained with lung ventilation, yet initiated anticipatorily.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Cardiac influence of the β3-adrenoceptor in the goldfish (Carassius auratus): a protective role under hypoxia?
Summary: β3-ARs are expressed in the goldfish heart with a role in the modulation of cardiac performance under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions.
An appetite for invasion: digestive physiology, thermal performance and food intake in lionfish (Pterois spp.)
Editors' Choice: The relationship between digestive physiology and energetic physiology may play an important role in invasive species' success, demonstrated in invasive lionfish (Pterois spp.) in the context of a warming ocean.
Tackling the Tibetan Plateau in a down suit: insights into thermoregulation by bar-headed geese during migration
Summary: Bar-headed geese maintain a consistent body temperature during their migration across the Tibetan Plateau regardless of altitude experienced.
Maternal food supplementation and perceived predation risk modify egg composition and eggshell traits but not offspring condition
Summary: Experimental evidence of the combined effects of maternal food supplementation and predation risk on egg composition (yolk mass, immune factors and eggshell traits) and offspring condition.
From injury to full repair: nerve regeneration and functional recovery in the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris
Summary: Following sectioning of the octopus pallial nerve, functionality returns within 1–5 months, with no observable impact on behaviour, highlighting the octopus as a valuable model for nerve regeneration among invertebrates.
Thermal tolerance in the urban heat island: thermal sensitivity varies ontogenetically and differs between embryos of two sympatric ectotherms
Summary: Embryos of two lizard species differ in thermal tolerance in ways that correspond with species-specific nest microhabitats and patterns of occupancy throughout the urban matrix.
Social foraging extends associative odor–food memory expression in an automated learning assay for Drosophila melanogaster
Summary: An automated learning and memory assay for walking fruit flies demonstrates that both inter-fly attraction and the duration of odor–food memory expression increase with group size.
Implications of the Sap47 null mutation for synapsin phosphorylation, longevity, climbing proficiency and behavioural plasticity in adult Drosophila
Summary: Sap47 belongs to the conserved, functionally enigmatic Syap1/Sap47 synaptic protein family. Behavioural analysis, longevity studies, phospho-specific immunohistology, electrophysiology and mass spectrometry characterize the function of Sap47 in Drosophila.
The effect of environmental enrichment on behavioral variability depends on genotype, behavior, and type of enrichment
Summary: Behavioral variability of fruit flies is increased in enriched environments, but the effect is overshadowed by genotype-, behavior- and enrichment-specific effects, and their interactions.
How humans initiate energy optimization and converge on their optimal gaits
Summary: Combining human experiments with computational reinforcement learning models reveals how the nervous system discovers energy optimal gaits.
The osmorespiratory compromise: physiological responses and tolerance to hypoxia are affected by salinity acclimation in the euryhaline Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus)
Summary: Salinity acclimation affects hypoxia tolerance in the euryhaline killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus).
Acute effects of intense exercise on the antioxidant system in birds: does exercise training help?
Summary: Daily exercise training of zebra finches over many weeks increases the coordination between the enzymatic and non-enzymatic components of their antioxidant system and this reduces the oxidative damage associated with exercise.
A subset of brain neurons controls regurgitation in adult Drosophila melanogaster
Summary: A genetic screen of higher-order neurons in the Drosophila brain identifies a candidate neuronal population that controls regurgitation after food ingestion.
Reflections on a year of supporting and promoting our early-career researchers

In this Editorial, editors Patricia Wright, Michaela Handel and Craig Franklin reflect on what JEB has done over the last year to support and promote the future of comparative physiology and biomechanics – our inspiring early-career researchers – through workshops, grants, special issues and award sponsorship.
Thanking our reviewers in 2024
A big thank you to everyone who reviewed for JEB in 2024.
Ecophysiological responses to heat waves in the marine intertidal zone

Heat waves are intensifying with climate change and intertidal zones are the only ecosystem to experience both atmospheric and marine heat waves. In this Review, Jonathon Stillman and colleagues highlight the physiological impacts of heat waves on intertidal organisms, including effects on mortality, plasticity and adaptation.
Snakes require super-stretchy neck skin to consume massive mouthfuls

Some snakes are capable of gulping down meals that are far larger than their heads in a single mouthful and now Jarrod Petersen, Lucy Campbell and Thomas Roberts show that super-stretchy neck skin is likely one of the key factors that allowed boa constrictors and egg-eating snakes to evolve this extraordinary feat.
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. Register by 28 February 2025.