Issues

Summary: In this Review, we summarize recent findings about the mechanisms involved in gut colonization and the provisioning of beneficial effects in gut microbiota–insect symbiosis.

Summary: CT imaging of living ringed seals suggests that lung volumes are smaller than those obtained postmortem, reveals that total lung capacity is overestimated by established allometric relationships, and affirms that body density and net vertical forces influence the cost of diving.

Summary: Analysis of adhesion and detatchment in four species of Hawaiian gobies across substrates differing in roughness and wettability reveals varying climbing abilities and higher shear pull-off forces on rough substrates.

Summary: FVB/N and C57BL/6J mice show strain-specific differences in proteins associated with muscle metabolism.

Summary: A novel method to determine the sinking velocity of biologically important micro-scale particles using 3D printed scale models.

Summary: FreeClimber quantifies the climbing velocity for a group of flies, eliminating systematic biases associated with traditional manual methods in a high throughput and automated (graphical and/or command line-based) platform.

Summary: Testing of sandhoppers under artificial radiance or spectral gradients indicates that light radiance gradient is used as a compass cue only at certain intensity levels; the spectral gradient is used as a chronometric compass cue.

Highlighted Article: Motion tracing, acoustic recording and micro-CT imaging reveal a unique ultrasonic organ in a relict insect. Statistical quantification of organ morphology reveals sexually driven loss of the organ in males.

Highlighted Article: A honeybee nest parasite that employs a unique strategy to exploit trophallaxis successfully induces its host to feed it protein-rich glandular secretions reserved for the queen, larvae and nest mates.

Summary: Maximal respiration in Atlantic salmon is increased similarly by acute and chronic warming. Warm acclimation preserves complex I coupling, mitigates ROS production and decreases the sensitivity of mitochondrial respiration to nitric oxide.

Highlighted Article: Transcriptional, physiological, morphological and comparative genomics data reveal mechanisms recruited to resolve the dual challenges of skin providing a barrier and exchange interface during terrestrial acclimation in an amphibious fish.

Highlighted Article: Investigation of the association between estimated body fat, health and activity in zoo Asian elephants suggests higher adiposity may contribute to metabolic perturbations, which may have additional down-stream health concerns.

Summary: Sex-based differences in habitat use are associated with differences in thermal physiology in Anolis lizards.

Summary: Three methods for measuring auditory brainstem responses in individual frogs are compared, showing equal performance at low frequencies; however, responses from methods depending on phase-locking deviate at high frequencies.

Summary: The major ATP-consuming process, protein synthesis, is more sensitive to temperature change than metabolic rate, resulting in ATP-allocation trade-offs that may define a biochemical tipping point for larval survival.

Summary: Daurian ground squirrels developed different antioxidant strategies in different twitch-type myocyte fiber during hibernation to fit the energy demands and balance the energy consumption with oxidative stress.

Summary: When gastropod larvae are exposed to food, their horizontal swimming velocity increases. This behavior may allow them to remain in horizontal food layers, and informs analysis of feeding–swimming trade-offs.

Summary: In macaques, coordination of leg and trunk segments for bipedal locomotion indicates a running gait with limited ability for energy storage.