bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The visual centring response in desert ants,Cataglyphis fortis
Authors: Heusser Daniel , Wehner Rüdiger 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYWhen negotiating their way through cluttered environments, desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, tend to run along the midlines of the alleys formed by adjacent low shrubs. This ‘centring response’ was investigated by inducing foraging ants to walk through artificial channels. The sidewalls of the channel were either homogeneously black or provided with stationary or moving black-and-white gratings. The speed of motion and the spatial period of the gratings and the height of the walls could be varied independently on the left-hand and right-hand sides of the channel. The results clearly show that the ants, while exhibiting their centring responses, try to balance neither the self-induced image speeds nor the contrast frequencies seen in their left and right visual fields, but the vertical angle subtended by the landmarks on either side. When manoeuvring through the channel, the ants always adjust the lateral positions of their walking trajectories in such a way that the vertical angles subtended by the walls are identical for both eyes.
Interspecific- and acclimation-induced variation in levels of heat-shock proteins 70 (hsp70) and 90 (hsp90) and heat-shock transcription factor-1 (HSF1) in congeneric marine snails (genusTegula): implications for regulation ofhspgene expression
Authors: Tomanek Lars , Somero George N. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYIn our previous studies of heat-shock protein (hsp) expression in congeneric marine gastropods of the genus Tegula, we observed interspecific and acclimation-induced variation in the temperatures at which heat-shock gene expression is induced (Ton). To investigate the factors responsible for these inter- and intraspecific differences in Ton, we tested the predictions of the ‘cellular thermometer’ model for the transcriptional regulation of hsp expression. According to this model, hsps not active in chaperoning unfolded proteins bind to a transcription factor, heat-shock factor-1 (HSF1), thereby reducing the levels of free HSF1 that are available to bind to the heat-shock element, a regulatory element upstream of hsp genes. Under stress, hsps bind to denatured proteins, releasing HSF1, which can now activate hsp gene transcription. Thus, elevated levels of heat-shock proteins of the 40, 70 and 90 kDa families (hsp 40, hsp70 and hsp90, respectively) would be predicted to elevate Ton. Conversely, elevated levels of HSF1 would be predicted to decrease Ton. Following laboratory acclimation to 13, 18 and 23°C, we used solid-phase immunochemistry (western analysis) to quantify endogenous levels of two hsp70 isoforms (hsp74 and hsp72), hsp90 and HSF1 in the low- to mid-intertidal species Tegula funebralis and in two subtidal to low-intertidal congeners, T. brunnea and T. montereyi. We found higher endogenous levels of hsp72 (a strongly heat-induced isoform) at 13 and 18°C in T. funebralis in comparison with T. brunnea and T. montereyi. However, T. funebralis also had higher levels of HSF1 than its congeners. The higher levels of HSF1 in T. funebralis cannot, within the framework of the cellular thermometer model, account for the higher Ton observed for this species, although they may explain why T. funebralis is able to induce the heat-shock response more rapidly than T. brunnea. However, the cellular thermometer model does appear to explain the cause of the increases in Ton that occurred during warm acclimation of the two subtidal species, in which warm acclimation was accompanied by increased levels of hsp72, hsp74 and hsp90, whereas levels of HSF1 remained stable. T. funebralis, which experiences greater heat stress than its subtidal congeners, consistently had higher ratios of hsp72 to hsp74 than its congeners, although the sum of levels of the two isoforms was similar for all three species except at the highest acclimation temperature (23°C). The ratio of hsp72 to hsp74 may provide a more accurate estimate of environmental heat stress than the total concentrations of both hsp70 isoforms.
A comparative study of odorant binding protein genes: differential expression of the PBP1-GOBP2 gene cluster inManduca sexta(Lepidoptera) and the organization of OBP genes inDrosophila melanogaster(Diptera)
Authors: Vogt Richard G. , Rogers Matthew E. , Franco Marie-dominique , Sun Ming 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYInsects discriminate odors using sensory organs called olfactory sensilla, which display a wide range of phenotypes. Sensilla express ensembles of proteins, including odorant binding proteins (OBPs), olfactory receptors (ORs) and odor degrading enzymes (ODEs); odors are thought to be transported to ORs by OBPs and subsequently degraded by ODEs. These proteins belong to multigene families. The unique combinatorial expression of specific members of each of these gene families determines, in part, the phenotype of a sensillum and what odors it can detect. Furthermore, OBPs, ORs and ODEs are expressed in different cell types, suggesting the need for cell–cell communication to coordinate their expression. This report examines the OBP gene family. In Manduca sexta, the genes encoding PBP1Msex and GOBP2Msex are sequenced, shown to be adjacent to one another, and characterized together with OBP gene structures of other lepidoptera and Drosophila melanogaster. Expression of PBP1Msex, GOBP1Msex and GOBP2Msex is characterized in adult male and female antenna and in larval antenna and maxilla. The genomic organization of 25 D. melanogaster OBPs are characterized with respect to gene locus, gene cluster, amino acid sequence similarity, exon conservation and proximity to OR loci, and their sequences are compared with 14 M. sexta OBPs. Sensilla serve as portals of important behavioral information, and genes supporting sensilla function are presumably under significant evolutionary selective pressures. This study provides a basis for studying the evolution of the OBP gene family, the regulatory mechanisms governing the coordinated expression of OBPs, ORs and ODEs, and the processes that determine specific sensillum phenotypes.
Cardiorespiratory responses of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) to severe hypoxia at three acclimation temperatures
Authors: Stecyk J. A. W. , Farrell A. P. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYIn vivo measurements of the cardiovascular responses of anoxia-tolerant teleosts to severe prolonged hypoxia are limited. Here, we report the first direct measurements of cardiac output (Q), heart rate (fH) and stroke volume during prolonged severe hypoxia (&lt;0.3 mg O2 l–1) in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) that had been acclimated to 6, 10 and 15°C. While routine Q and fH values varied with temperature under normoxic conditions (Q10 values of 1.7 and 2.6, respectively), severe hypoxic exposure significantly depressed fH and Q to similar minimum values that were largely independent of acclimation temperature (Q10 values of 1.2). In contrast, the duration of cardiac depression and the subsequent time period during which carp could tolerate severe hypoxia were inversely related to acclimation temperature (24 h at 6°C, 6 h at 10°C, and 2.5 h at 6°C). Likewise, respiration rate during hypoxia showed a temperature dependence. An unusual finding was that cardiorespiratory status partially recovered during the latter stages of severe hypoxic exposure. We conclude that the cardiorespiratory responses to severe prolonged hypoxia in common carp involved a mixture of temperature-independent, temperature-dependent and time domain phases.
Anoxia induces thermotolerance in the locust flight system
Authors: Wu B. S. , Lee J. K. , Thompson K. M. , Walker V. K. , Moyes C. D. , Robertson R. M. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYHeat shock and anoxia are environmental stresses that are known to trigger similar cellular responses. In this study, we used the locust to examine stress cross-tolerance by investigating the consequences of a prior anoxic stress on the effects of a subsequent high-temperature stress. Anoxic stress and heat shock induced thermotolerance by increasing the ability of intact locusts to survive normally lethal temperatures. To determine whether induced thermotolerance observed in the intact animal was correlated with electrophysiological changes, we measured whole-cell K+ currents and action potentials from locust neurons. K+ currents recorded from thoracic neuron somata were reduced after anoxic stress and decreased with increases in temperature. Prior anoxic stress and heat shock increased the upper temperature limit for generation of an action potential during a subsequent heat stress. Although anoxia induced thermotolerance in the locust flight system, a prior heat shock did not protect locusts from a subsequent anoxic stress. To determine whether changes in bioenergetic status were implicated in whole-animal cross-tolerance, phosphagen levels and rates of mitochondrial respiration were assayed. Heat shock alone had no effect on bioenergetic status. Prior heat shock allowed rapid recovery after normally lethal heat stress but afforded no protection after a subsequent anoxic stress. Heat shock also afforded no protection against disruption of bioenergetic status after a subsequent exercise stress. These metabolite studies are consistent with the electrophysiological data that demonstrate that a prior exposure to anoxia can have protective effects against high-temperature stress but that heat shock does not induce tolerance to anoxia.
Dual antennular chemosensory pathways mediate odor-associative learning and odor discrimination in the Caribbean spiny lobsterPanulirus argus
Authors: Steullet Pascal , Krützfeldt Dana R. , Hamidani Gemma , Flavus Tanya , Ngo Vivian , Derby Charles D. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYChemosensory neurons in the antennular flagella of lobsters mediate long-range responses to chemicals. These neurons are part of two parallel chemosensory pathways with different peripheral and central components. Aesthetasc sensilla on the lateral flagella are innervated by chemosensory neurons that project to the olfactory lobes. A diversity of other ‘non-aesthetasc’ sensilla on both lateral and medial flagella are innervated by mechano- and chemosensory neurons, and most of these non-aesthetasc neurons project to the lateral antennular neuropils. We investigated the roles of these two pathways in odor-associative learning and odor discrimination by selectively removing either aesthetasc or non-aesthetasc sensilla from the spiny lobster Panulirus argus. Lobsters lacking both aesthetasc and non-aesthetasc antennular sensilla show very reduced or no odor-mediated searching behavior. We associatively conditioned lobsters using two paradigms: aversive conditioning with generalization testing (which reveals the similarity in the lobsters’ perception of odorants) and discrimination conditioning (which reveals the lobsters’ ability to discriminate odorants). Sham-control intact lobsters performed these tasks well, as did lobsters lacking either aesthetascs or non-aesthetasc setae. There was a strong but statistically non-significant trend that lobsters lacking either aesthetascs or non-aesthetasc setae generalized more between complex odor mixtures than did intact lobsters. After aversive conditioning with generalization testing, aesthetasc-ablated lobsters had more difficulty discriminating among the most closely related complex mixtures than did intact or non-aesthetasc-ablated lobsters. However, after discrimination conditioning, aesthetasc-ablated lobsters were as proficient as intact animals in discriminating highly similar mixtures. These results indicate overlap and redundancy in the function of these two chemosensory pathways in odor-associative learning and odor discrimination, but these pathways also complement each other to enable better discrimination. This study presents the first evidence for a role of non-aesthetasc chemosensory neurons in complex odor-mediated behaviors such as learning and discrimination.
Learning speed and contextual isolation in bumblebees
Authors: Fauria Karine , Dale Kyran , Colborn Matthew , Collett Thomas S. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARY
Bumblebees will learn to approach one of a pair of patterns (a 45°grating) and to avoid the other (a 135° grating) to reach a feeder, and to do the opposite to reach their nest (approach a 135° grating and avoid a 45° grating). These two potentially competing visuo-motor associations are insulated from each other because they are set in different contexts. We investigated what training conditions allow the two sets of associations to be acquired without mutual interference.
If the discrimination at the feeder has already been learnt, then the discrimination at the nest can be readily acquired without disrupting the bees' performance at the feeder. But, if the two are learnt simultaneously,there is mutual interference. Prior experience of the two contexts before the discriminations are learnt does not prevent interference. We conclude that visual patterns and contextual cues must already be associated with each other for a visuo-motor association to be isolated from the interfering effects of a competing association that is acquired in a separate context. This pattern of results was mimicked in a simple neural network with Hebbian synapses, in which local and contextual cues were bound together into a configural unit.
Discontinuous gas-exchange in centipedes and its convergent evolution in tracheated arthropods
Authors: Klok C. Jaco , Mercer Richard D. , Chown Steven L. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARY
We have examined the gas-exchange characteristics of five southern African centipede species from three orders. Two scolopendromorph species exhibit discontinuous gas-exchange cycles (DGCs) identical to those recorded for several insect and chelicerate species. Another scolopendromorph and a lithobiomorph species exhibit weak periodic patterns, and a scutigermorph species shows continuous gas exchange. A crucial component for DGCs in tracheated arthropods is the presence of occludible spiracles. However, on the basis of studies of temperate centipedes, most recent invertebrate biology texts hold the view that centipedes, as a group, cannot close their spiracles. Using flow-through normoxic and normoxic—anoxic—normoxic respirometry and electron microscopy, we conclusively demonstrate that at least one of the scolopendromorph species, Cormocephalus morsitansL., can close its spiracles fully, thus accounting for its DGCs. Homologies in spiracular structure and DGCs suggest that several other tracheated arthropod taxa probably have this ability too and that DGCs have evolved convergently at least four times in the Arthropoda. Spiracular closure and discontinuous gas-exchange cycles are probably more widespread in arthropods than has previously been suspected.
Relationship between individual variation in morphological characters and swimming costs in brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
Authors: Boily Patrice , Magnan Pierre 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARY
The objective of this study was to examine if individual variation in morphological characters is related to swimming costs in wild and domestic brook charr, and in wild yellow perch. Our results indicate that absolute swimming cost was higher in wild and domestic brook charr individuals having a stout body shape, and these individuals are therefore less efficient swimmers. These results are consistent with field observations that described relationships between individual variation in morphology and habitat use in salmonids. Further analyses indicated that standard metabolic rates were higher in individuals having a stout body shape, and that net swimming cost was not related to body shape. Accordingly, the higher swimming cost of stout individuals is probably an indirect consequence of an increase in standard metabolic rate. In wild yellow perch, absolute and net swimming costs were higher in individuals having a stout body shape and a low aspect caudal fin,and standard metabolic rate was not related to body shape. Therefore, in contrast to brook charr, individual variation in the swimming cost of yellow perch appears to be related to morphological characters that affect drag and thrust forces, which is consistent with previously published inter-specific observations.
Comparative neuroethology of feeding control in molluscs
Authors: Elliott C. J. H. , Susswein A. J. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYOver the last 30 years, many laboratories have examined, in parallel, the feeding behaviour of gastropod molluscs and the properties of the nervous system that give rise to this behaviour. Equal attention to both behavioural and neurobiological issues has provided deep insight into the functioning of the nervous system in generating and controlling behaviour. The conclusions derived from studies on gastropod feeding are generally consistent with those from other systems, but often provide more detailed information on the behavioural function of a particular property of the nervous system. A review of the literature on gastropod feeding illustrates a number of important messages. (i) Many of the herbivorous gastropods display similarities in behaviour that are reflected in corresponding similarities in neural anatomy,pharmacology and physiology. By contrast, the same aspects of the behaviour of different carnivorous species are quite variable, possibly because of their specialised prey-capture techniques. Nonetheless, some aspects of the neural control of feeding are preserved. (ii) Feeding in all species is flexible,with the behaviour and the physiology adapting to changes in the current environment and internal state and as a result of past experience. Flexibility arises via processes that may take place at many neural sites, and much of the modulation underlying behavioural flexibility is understood at a systems and at a cellular level. (iii) Neurones seem to have specific functions that are consistent with their endogenous properties and their synaptic connections, suggesting that individual neurones code specific pieces of information (i.e. they are `grandmother cells'). However, the properties of a neurone can be extremely complex and can be understood only in the context of the complete neural circuit and the behaviour that it controls. In systems that are orders of magnitude more complex, it would be impossible to understand the functional properties of an individual neurone, even if it also coded specific information. (iv) Systems such as gastropod feeding may provide a model for understanding the functional properties of more complex systems.
A model of scale effects in mammalian quadrupedal running
Authors: Herr Hugh M. , Huang Gregory T. , McMahon Thomas A. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARYAlthough the effects of body size on mammalian locomotion are well documented, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we present a computational model of the mechanics, control and energetics that unifies some well-known scale effects in running quadrupeds. The model consists of dynamic, physics-based simulations of six running mammals ranging in size from a chipmunk to a horse (0.115-676 kg). The `virtual animals' are made up of rigid segments (head, trunk and four legs) linked by joints and are similar in morphology to particular species. In the model, each stance limb acts as a spring operating within a narrow range of stiffness, forward motion is powered and controlled by active hip and shoulder torques, and metabolic cost is predicted from the time course of supporting body weight. Model parameters that are important for stability (joint stiffnesses,limb-retraction times and target positions and velocities of the limbs) are selected such that (i) running kinematics (aerial height, forward speed and body pitch) is smooth and periodic and (ii) overall leg stiffness is in agreement with published data. Both trotting and galloping gaits are modeled,and comparisons across size are made at speeds that are physiologically similar among species. Model predictions are in agreement with data on vertical stiffness, limb angles, metabolic cost of transport, stride frequency, peak force and duty factor. This work supports the idea that a single, integrative model can predict important features of running across size by employing simple strategies to control overall leg stiffness. More broadly, the model provides a quantitative framework for testing hypotheses that relate limb control, stability and metabolic cost.
Effect of muscle temperature on rate of oxygen uptake during exercise in humans at different contraction frequencies
Authors: Ferguson Richard A. , Ball Derek , Sargeant Anthony J. 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARY
The effect of elevated human muscle temperature on energy turnover was investigated during cycling exercise (at 85 % of V̇O2max) at a contraction frequency of 60 revs min-1. Muscle temperature was passively elevated prior to exercise by immersion of the legs in a hot water bath (42 °C). During exercise at this low pedalling rate, total energy turnover was higher (P&lt;0.05) when muscle temperature was elevated compared with normal temperature (70.4±3.7 versus 66.9±2.4 kJ min-1, respectively). Estimated net mechanical efficiency was found to be lower when muscle temperature was elevated. A second experiment was conducted in which the effect of elevated human muscle temperature on energy turnover was investigated during cycling exercise (at 85 % of V̇O2max) at a contraction frequency of 120 revs min-1. Under the conditions of a high pedalling frequency, an elevated muscle temperature resulted in a lower energy turnover (P&lt;0.05) compared with the normal muscle temperature (64.9±3.7 versus 69.0±4.7 kJ min-1, respectively). The estimated net mechanical efficiency was therefore higher when muscle temperature was elevated. We propose that, in these experiments, prior heating results in an inappropriately fast rate of cross-bridge cycling when exercising at 60 revs min-1, leading to an increased energy turnover and decreased efficiency. However, at the faster pedalling rate, the effect of heating the muscle shifts the efficiency/velocity relationship to the right so that cross-bridge detachment is more appropriately matched to the contraction velocity and, hence, energy turnover is reduced.
Specialized olfactory receptor neurons mediating intra- and interspecific chemical communication in leafminer moths Eriocrania spp.(Lepidoptera: Eriocraniidae)
Authors: Larsson Mattias C. , Hallberg Eric , Kozlov Mikhail V. , Francke Wittko , Hansson Bill S. , Löfstedt Christer 
Published: April 2021

SUMMARY
We performed a physiological and morphological characterization of sensilla auricillica in male Eriocrania semipurpurella moths. Each auricillic sensillum contained three olfactory receptor neurons. Responding neurons (87 of 139) could be grouped into five physiological types. Type 1 responded to(R,Z)-6-nonen-2-ol and type 2 to its enantiomer(S,Z)-6-nonen-2-ol, both of which are pheromone components of E. semipurpurella. Type 3 responded to both (R)-heptan-2-ol and(R,Z)-4-hepten-2-ol, which are pheromone components of the sympatric species E. cicatricella. Types 4 and 5 responded to the ketones(Z)-6-nonen-2-one and/or nonan-2-one, which are found in the pheromone glands of female E. semipurpurella.
Field-trapping showed that type 3 receptor neurons mediate strongly antagonistic effects of (R)-heptan-2-ol and(R,Z)-4-hepten-2-ol on E. semipurpurella, while nonan-2-one should possibly be included as a synergist in the sex pheromone blend of this species. The attraction of E. cicatricella and E. sparrmannella to compounds mixed with the pheromone blend of E. semipurpurella shows that the pheromone components of E. semipurpurella have little or no antagonistic effects on these species.
The morphology and physiology of eriocraniid pheromone sensilla are very similar to those found in the order Trichoptera (caddisflies), suggesting a homology between pheromone detection systems in the two sister orders Lepidoptera and Trichoptera.