Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Avian wing muscles are hypothesized to control wing shape, but their activity has received less attention. The wing muscles best characterized in flight are those surrounding the pigeon (Columba livia) elbow. Theriault et al. (jeb195578) used these data to inform in situ work loop measurements in the pigeon humerotriceps, finding that the muscle acts primarily as a brake, but can also serve as an actuator or spring, depending on activation timing. Moreover, the muscle can serve different functions within a single contractile cycle, indicating potential for wing shape control across diverse flight modes. Illustrations: Jolan Theriault and Joseph Bahlman.
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
Loss-of-function approaches in comparative physiology: is there a future for knockdown experiments in the era of genome editing?
Summary: We discuss the merits and pitfalls of current knockdown and knockout approaches and advocate for the continued use of knockdown experiments in order to maintain progress in physiological research.
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Does the left aorta provide proton-rich blood to the gut when crocodilians digest a meal?
Summary: Blood in the left aorta of American alligators does not contain elevated PCO2 levels during digestion.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Natural polymorphism in protein kinase G modulates functional senescence in Drosophila melanogaster
Summary: PKG, encoded by the polymorphic foraging gene, confers hypoxia tolerance at the expense of lifespan and healthy aging, indicating a novel role for PKG in aging and senescence.
Variation in sexual brain size dimorphism over the breeding cycle in the three-spined stickleback
Summary: Sex-specific changes in brain size over the breeding cycle in the three-spined stickleback may be the reason for varying estimates of sexual brain size dimorphism across studies of this species.
Increased apical sodium-dependent glucose transporter abundance in the ctenidium of the giant clam Tridacna squamosa upon illumination
Summary: The giant clam Tridacna squamosa expresses an apical sodium/glucose cotransporter 1 homolog in the ctenidium that could participate in light-enhanced glucose absorption.
Sensory feedback independent pre-song vocalizations correlate with time to song initiation
Summary: The number and progression of introductory notes to song in the zebra finch are not affected by removal of sensory feedback.
Work loop dynamics of the pigeon (Columba livia) humerotriceps demonstrate potentially diverse roles for active wing morphing
Highlighted Article: In pigeons, natural variation in wingbeat frequency, and humerotriceps activation phase and duration, indicate functional plasticity that can effectively power different flight behaviors.
Pollen reverses decreased lifespan, altered nutritional metabolism and suppressed immunity in honey bees (Apis mellifera) treated with antibiotics
Highlighted Article: Bacteria in pollen confer the ability to inhibit virus replication, extend lifespan and improve overall health in honey bees treated with antibiotics.
Context-dependent scaling of kinematics and energetics during contests and feeding in mantis shrimp
Editors' Choice: Behavioral context alters kinematic and energetic scaling in animals with spring-powered movements. Variable spring compression likely underlies these context-specific changes, which have implications for theories of contest and feeding behavior.
Cutaneous respiration by diving beetles from underground aquifers of Western Australia (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)
Highlighted Article: Subterranean diving beetles survive permanently under water using cutaneous respiration, making them independent of visits to the surface to collect air, but restricting them to a small size.
Interspecific scaling of blood flow rates and arterial sizes in mammals
Summary: Blood flow rates determine artery sizes in mammals, independent of body mass.
Motor control of an insect leg during level and incline walking
Highlighted Article: In stick insect hindlegs, muscle activity is adjusted to different mechanical demands during walking, primarily early in stance. Adjustments strongly affect forces/torques but not kinematics and suggest step-by-step control.
Avian yolk androgens are metabolized rather than taken up by the embryo during the first days of incubation
Highlighted Article: Mass spectrometric analysis using stable isotope labelled androgens shows that maternal androgens in bird egg yolk are not taken up by the embryo during early incubation but rather are metabolized.
Elevated oxidative stress in pied flycatcher nestlings of eumelanic foster fathers under low rearing temperatures
Summary: The pied flycatcher demonstrates a temperature-dependent association between oxidative stress of offspring and variation in the melanin coloration of their foster father.
The quantity–quality trade-off: differential effects of daily food availability times on reproductive performance and offspring quality in diurnal zebra finches
Summary: Absence of food in the morning compromises reproductive fecundity but not quality of offspring, whereas food absence in the evening compromises quality (skeletal growth and overall size) of offspring but not reproductive fecundity in continuously breeding diurnal zebra finches.
3D ultrastructural organisation of calcium release units in the avian sarcoplasmic reticulum
Summary: 3D reconstructions of calcium release units in the avian heart combined with computer modelling reveal that close clustering of cSR along the Z-line is vital for rapid propagation of the Ca2+ signal, enabling strong, fast contractions of the avian heart.
Genetic and environmental effects on the scaling of metabolic rate with body size
Summary: Daphnia magna shows a genotype-by-temperature interaction in the allometric intercept of metabolic rate, but no genetic effects on the allometric slope.
Morph- and sex-specific effects of challenging conditions on maintenance parameters in the Gouldian finch
Highlighted Article: Gouldian finches exhibit physiological divergence between individuals of different morphs and between reproductive partners under energetically demanding conditions (heatwave, moult or reproduction).
Zonation of Ca2+ transport and enzyme activity in the caeca of rainbow trout – a simple structure with complex functions
Summary: A novel technique revealed region-specific ion transport properties within the caeca of rainbow trout. Feeding and environmental manipulation altered ion transport characteristics, which changes in enzyme activity supported.
Softness sensing and learning in Drosophila larvae
Summary: Drosophila melanogaster larvae prefer a soft food substrate. They can learn the softness of agarose gel and evaluate foods by balancing softness and sweetness. Genetic background affects the larval preference for softness.
Control of breathing and respiratory gas exchange in high-altitude ducks native to the Andes
Summary: Distinct physiological strategies for coping with hypoxia exist across different high-altitude lineages of ducks.
New funding schemes for junior faculty staff
In celebration of our 100th anniversary, JEB has launched two new grants to support junior faculty staff working in animal comparative physiology and biomechanics who are within five years of setting up their first lab/research group. Check out our ECR Visiting Fellowships and Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grants.
JEB@100: an interview with Monitoring Editor Stuart Egginton
Stuart Egginton reveals how he overcame the challenges of being a comparative physiologist in a medical school and how he would tell his younger self to trust his instincts when pursuing new ideas.
Mapping Neuromodulator expression in Octopus vulgaris – a Travelling Fellowship story
To develop her understanding of neural mapping, Federica Pizzulli, a PhD student from the Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, used a Travelling Fellowship from Journal of Experimental Biology to visit the Seuntjens lab at KU Leuven, Belgium – the first lab to adapt in-situ Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR) to Octopus vulgaris. Read more about our Travelling Fellowships here.
Revealing the secrets of sleep
Research spanning 20 years has illuminated the universal nature of sleep across species, from mammals to cnidaria. Rhea Lakhiani and colleagues explore sleep phenomenology, physiology and function through the lens of comparative physiology.
Thirsty snakes want to keep cool
Even though cooling down to digest dinner is a risky strategy - it takes longer leaving reptiles vulnerable to attack - thirsty Children's pythons find a cooler spot and now Jill Azzolini & co have discovered that the parched reptiles choose to keep cool to conserve water.
