nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Responses of protocerebral neurons in Manduca sexta to sex-pheromone mixtures
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Male Manduca sexta moths are attracted to a mixture of two components of the female’s sex pheromone at the natural concentration ratio. Deviation from this ratio results in reduced attraction. Projection neurons innervating prominent male-specific glomeruli in the male’s antennal lobe produce maximal synchronized spiking activity in response to synthetic mixtures of the two components centering around the natural ratio, suggesting that behaviorally effective mixture ratios are encoded by synchronous neuronal activity. We investigated the physiological activity and morphology of downstream protocerebral neurons that responded to antennal stimulation with single pheromone components and their mixtures at various concentration ratios. Among the tested neurons, only a few gave stronger responses to the mixture at the natural ratio whereas most did not distinguish among the mixtures that were tested. We also found that the population response distinguished among the two pheromone components and their mixtures, prior to the peak population response. This observation is consistent with our previous finding that synchronous firing of antennal-lobe projection neurons reaches its maximum before the firing rate reaches its peak. Moreover, the response patterns of protocerebral neurons are diverse, suggesting that the representation of olfactory stimuli at the level of protocerebrum is complex.
Development of longitudinal smooth muscle in the posterior mesenteric artery and purinergic regulation of its contractile responses in chickens
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

This study was designed to clarify development and the neural regulation of longitudinal smooth muscle in the chicken posterior mesenteric artery to generate new hypotheses for the roles of arterial longitudinal muscles. The existence of longitudinal muscles was examined with hematoxylin-eosin staining. A well-developed longitudinal muscle layer exists in the posterior mesenteric artery of adult female chickens but not adult male chickens. The muscle layer is poorly developed in chickens aged < 15 weeks, even in female chickens. Mechanical responses of muscles were recorded and perivascular nerves were stimulated by electrical field stimulation (EFS). EFS induced monophasic contractions in longitudinal muscle of the posterior mesenteric artery segment, and those responses were inhibited by pretreatment with tetrodotoxin. Blockers for cholinoceptors and adrenoceptors did not affect EFS-evoked contractions but an antagonist for P2X purinoceptors blocked them. The present study demonstrated that the longitudinal muscle in the posterior mesenteric artery of the domestic fowl develops between the 5th and 15th week of life, suggesting that its development is involved in oviposition. The longitudinal muscle might have a role in resisting extensional stress from the oviduct containing eggs. Moreover, the arterial longitudinal muscle is regulated by purinergic neurons via P2X purinoceptors.
Avoidance conditioning in bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium griseum and C. punctatum): behavioral and neuroanatomical aspects
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Animals face different threats; to survive, they have to anticipate how to react or how to avoid these. It has already been shown in teleosts that selected regions in the telencephalon, i.e., the medial pallium, are involved in avoidance learning strategies. No such study exists for any chondrichthyan. In nature, an avoidance reaction may vary, ranging from a ‘freeze’ reaction to a startling response and quick escape. This study investigated whether elasmobranchs (Chiloscyllium griseum and C. punctatum) can be conditioned in an aversive classical conditioning paradigm. Upon successful conditioning, the dorsal, medial and lateral pallium were removed (group 1) and performance tested again. In a second group, the same operation was performed prior to training. While conditioning was successful in individuals of both groups, no escape responses were observed. Post-operative performance was assessed and compared between individual and groups to reveal if the neural substrates governing avoidance behavior or tasks learned in a classical conditioning paradigm are located within the telencephalon, as has been shown for teleosts such as goldfish.
Measurements of substrate oxidation using 13CO2-breath testing reveals shifts in fuel mix during starvation
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology B

Most fasting animals are believed to sequentially switch from predominantly utilizing one metabolic substrate to another from carbohydrates, to lipids, then to proteins. The timing of these physiological transitions has been estimated using measures of substrate oxidation including changes in respiratory exchange ratios, blood metabolites, nitrogen excretion, or enzyme activities in tissues. Here, we demonstrate how 13CO2-breath testing can be used to partition among the oxidation of distinct nutrient pools in the body (i.e., carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins) that have become artificially enriched in 13C. Seventy-two Swiss Webster mice were raised to adulthood on diets supplemented with 13C-1-l-leucine, 13C-1-palmitic acid, 13C-1-d-glucose, or no tracer. Mice were then fasted for 72 h during which $$ \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2} $$V·O2, $$ \dot{V}{\text{CO}}_{2} $$V·CO2, δ13C of exhaled CO2, body temperature, body mass, and blood metabolites (i.e., glucose, ketone bodies, and triacylglycerols) were measured. The fasting mice exhibited reductions in body mass (29 %), body temperature (3.3 °C), minimum observed metabolic rates (24 %), and respiratory exchange ratio (0.18), as well as significant changes in blood metabolites; but these responses were not particularly indicative of changes in oxidative fuel mixture. Measurements of endogenous nutrient oxidation by way of 13CO2-breath testing revealed a decrease in the rate of oxidation of carbohydrates from 61 to 10 % of the total energy expenditure during the first 6 h without food. This response was mirrored by a coincidental increase in rate of endogenous lipid oxidation from 18 to 64 %. A transient peak in carbohydrate oxidation occurred between 8 and 14 h, presumably during increased glycogen mobilization. A well-defined period of protein sparing between 8 and 12 h was observed where endogenous protein oxidation accounted for as little as 8 % of the total energy expenditure. Thereafter, protein oxidation continually increased accounting for as much as 24 % of the total energy expenditure by 72 h. This study demonstrates that 13CO2-breath testing may provide a complementary approach to characterizing the timing and magnitude of sequential changes in substrate oxidation that occur during prolonged fasting and starvation.
Characterization of blubber fatty acid signatures in northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) over the postweaning fast
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology B

Phocids routinely fast for extended periods. During these fasts, energetic requirements are met primarily through the catabolism of blubber lipid. To assess whether fatty acid (FA) composition changes during the postweaning fast in northern elephant seals, blubber biopsies were acquired longitudinally from 43 pups at 2.3 ± 1.5 and 55.2 ± 3.7 days postweaning in 1999 and 2000. At weaning, short-chain monounsaturated FA (SC-MUFA, ≤18 carbons) dominated the blubber while saturated FA (SFA) were found in the next highest proportion. The major FA (all ≥1 % by mass) comprised approximately 91 % of total blubber FA. In both years, 18:1n-9 and 16:0 were the most prevalent FA. Major FA mobilized during the fast consisted of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), SFA, and SC-MUFA. Long-chain MUFA (>18 carbons) tended to be conserved. The fractional mobilization value of 20:5n-3 was the highest, resulting in significant reductions of this PUFA. Although concentrations of some blubber FA changed significantly during the postweaning fast, the general FA signature of blubber was similar at weaning and near the end of the fast. Changes in some FA differed across years. For example, the concentration of 20:4n-6, a minor PUFA, was significantly reduced in 1999 but not in 2000. FA mobilization patterns in northern elephant seal pups are somewhat similar to those reported previously for other fasting phocids and terrestrial mammals, though there are some notable differences. Differences in FA mobilization patterns across mammalian species may be related to differences in diets, geographical distribution, environmental factors, physiological adaptations, and life history stage.
Blue colour preference in honeybees distracts visual attention for learning closed shapes
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Spatial vision is an important cue for how honeybees (Apis mellifera) find flowers, and previous work has suggested that spatial learning in free-flying bees is exclusively mediated by achromatic input to the green photoreceptor channel. However, some data suggested that bees may be able to use alternative channels for shape processing, and recent work shows conditioning type and training length can significantly influence bee learning and cue use. We thus tested the honeybees’ ability to discriminate between two closed shapes considering either absolute or differential conditioning, and using eight stimuli differing in their spectral characteristics. Consistent with previous work, green contrast enabled reliable shape learning for both types of conditioning, but surprisingly, we found that bees trained with appetitive-aversive differential conditioning could additionally use colour and/or UV contrast to enable shape discrimination. Interestingly, we found that a high blue contrast initially interferes with bee shape learning, probably due to the bees innate preference for blue colours, but with increasing experience bees can learn a variety of spectral and/or colour cues to facilitate spatial learning. Thus, the relationship between bee pollinators and the spatial and spectral cues that they use to find rewarding flowers appears to be a more rich visual environment than previously thought.
Mothers under stress? Hatching sex ratio in relation to maternal baseline corticosterone in the common tern (Sterna hirundo)
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Sex ratio of progeny should be balanced if costs and benefits of rearing sons and daughters are equal. However, shifts in sex ratio have been demonstrated across bird species and it was suggested that females are able to adjust the primary sex ratio. One possible mechanism is the glucocorticoid corticosterone which rises under stressful conditions and can be deposited into egg yolk by mothers. We analysed primary sex ratio of common terns Sterna hirundo from 2006 to 2008 and related it to maternal baseline corticosterone level, laying date and year. Therefore, we took 101 blood samples of 71 breeding females via blood sucking bugs, a method with negligible stress for the birds. Sex ratio did not differ from parity in any of the analysed years, which were characterized by poor food availability and breeding success. Only within 1 year there was a tendency for more females in the last hatched chick. Neither corticosterone level nor laying date or year showed an influence on hatching sex ratio. The negative result concerning primary sex ratio and maternal baseline corticosterone level might suggest conditions to be good enough for mothers to prevent them from depositing high levels of corticosterone into eggs.
Effects of prolonged exposure to cold on the spontaneous activity of two different types of filiform sensilla in Pyrrhocoris apterus
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

We recorded the spontaneous activity of T1 and T2 filiform sensilla from October to May in Pyrrhocoris apterus acclimatized to outdoor conditions. The aim of the study was to determine how prolonged exposure to cold affects two closely related mechanosensitive sensilla. We recorded the activity at seven temperatures from 5 to 35 °C. In both sensilla types the activity level was reduced during winter, which correlated to changes in acclimatization temperature (r = 0.7), the reduction was greater at high recording temperatures, and the effects of exposure to cold were reversed by transferring the animals indoors. However, T1 activity always increased monotonically, if the recording temperature was increased from 5 to 35 °C, whereas T2 activity in cold-acclimatized animals increased to temperatures between 20 and 30 °C and then started decreasing. As a result, the temperature sensitivity of the activity was reduced more profoundly in T2 sensilla (in T2Q10 was reduced from 3.5 in October to 1.4 in January, whereas in T1 it was reduced from 2.5 to 2.2). In conclusion, we have shown that prolonged exposure to cold does affect filiform sensilla; however, the effect is significantly different in the two sensilla types.
Glomerular interactions in olfactory processing channels of the antennal lobes
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

An open question in olfactory coding is the extent of interglomerular connectivity: do olfactory glomeruli and their neurons regulate the odorant responses of neurons innervating other glomeruli? In the olfactory system of the moth Manduca sexta, the response properties of different types of antennal olfactory receptor cells are known. Likewise, a subset of antennal lobe glomeruli has been functionally characterized and the olfactory tuning of their innervating neurons identified. This provides a unique opportunity to determine functional interactions between glomeruli of known input, specifically, (1) glomeruli processing plant odors and (2) glomeruli activated by antennal stimulation with pheromone components of conspecific females. Several studies describe reciprocal inhibitory effects between different types of pheromone-responsive projection neurons suggesting lateral inhibitory interactions between pheromone component-selective glomerular neural circuits. Furthermore, antennal lobe projection neurons that respond to host plant volatiles and innervate single, ordinary glomeruli are inhibited during antennal stimulation with the female’s sex pheromone. The studies demonstrate the existence of lateral inhibitory effects in response to behaviorally significant odorant stimuli and irrespective of glomerular location in the antennal lobe. Inhibitory interactions are present within and between olfactory subsystems (pheromonal and non-pheromonal subsystems), potentially to enhance contrast and strengthen odorant discrimination.
Swim pacemaker response to bath applied neurotransmitters in the cubozoan Tripedalia cystophora
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

The four rhopalia of cubomedusae are integrated parts of the central nervous system carrying their many eyes and thought to be the centres of visual information processing. Rhopalial pacemakers control locomotion through a complex neural signal transmitted to the ring nerve and the signal frequency is modulated by the visual input. Since electrical synapses have never been found in the cubozoan nervous system all signals are thought to be transmitted across chemical synapses, and so far information about the neurotransmitters involved are based on immunocytochemical or behavioural data. Here we present the first direct physiological evidence for the types of neurotransmitters involved in sensory information processing in the rhopalial nervous system. FMRFamide, serotonin and dopamine are shown to have inhibitory effect on the pacemaker frequency. There are some indications that the fast acting acetylcholine and glycine have an initial effect and then rapidly desensitise. Other tested neuroactive compounds (GABA, glutamate, and taurine) could not be shown to have a significant effect.
Overexpression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 in the arcuate nucleus of juvenile Phodopus sungorus alters seasonal body weight changes
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology B

The profound seasonal cycle in body weight exhibited by the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus) is associated with the development of hypothalamic leptin resistance during long day photoperiod (LD, 16:8 h light dark cycle), when body weight is elevated relative to short day photoperiod (SD, 8:16 h light dark cycle). We previously have shown that this seasonal change in physiology is associated with higher levels of mRNA for the potent inhibitor of leptin signaling, suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3), in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of LD hamsters relative to hamsters in SD. The alteration in SOCS3 gene expression preceded the body weight change suggesting that SOCS3 might be the molecular switch of seasonal body weight changes. To functionally characterize the role of SOCS3 in seasonal body weight regulation, we injected SOCS3 expressing recombinant adeno-associated virus type-2 (rAAV2-SOCS3) constructs into the ARC of leptin sensitive SD hamsters immediately after weaning. Hamsters that received rAAV2 expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (rAAV2-EGFP) served as controls. ARC-directed SOCS3 overexpression led to a significant increase in body weight over a period of 12 weeks without fully restoring the LD phenotype. This increase was partially due to elevated brown and white adipose tissue mass. Gene expression of pro-opiomelanocortin was increased while thyroid hormone converting enzyme DIO3 mRNA levels were reduced in SD hamsters with SOCS3 overexpression. In conclusion, our data suggest that ARC-directed SOCS3 overexpression partially overcomes the profound seasonal body weight cycle exhibited by the hamster which is associated with altered pro-opiomelanocortin and DIO3 gene expression.
Daily variations in plasma melatonin and melatonin receptor (MT1), PER1 and CRY1 expression in suprachiasmatic nuclei of tropical squirrel, Funambulus pennanti
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) plays a major role in photoperiodic regulation of seasonal functions by modulating the melatonin signal. To date no report exists regarding the role of the ambient photoperiod in the regulation of melatonin receptor MT1 and clock gene (PER1 and CRY1) expression in the SCN of any tropical rodent that experiences the least variation in the photoperiod. We noted the expression of MT1, PER1 and CRY1 in the SCN of a tropical squirrel, Funambulus pennanti, along with the plasma level of melatonin over 24 h during the reproductively active (summer) and inactive (winter) phases. The seasonal day length affected the peripheral melatonin, which was inversely related with the MT1 expression in the SCN. The timing for peak expression of PER1 was the same in both phases, while the decline in PER1 expression was delayed by 4 h during the inactive phase. The CRY1 peak advanced by 4 h during the active phase, while the interval between the peak and decline of CRY1 remained the same in both phases. It can be suggested that seasonally changing melatonin levels modulate MT1 expression dynamics in the SCN, altering its functional state, and gate SCN molecular “clock” gene profiles through changes in PER/CRY expression. Such a regulation is important for photo-physiological adaptation (reproduction/immunity) in seasonal breeders.
Distress calls of the greater short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx activate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in conspecifics
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

In a stressful situation, greater short-nosed fruit bats (Cynopterus sphinx) emit audible vocalization either to warn or to inform conspecifics. We examined the effect of distress calls on bats emitting the call as well as the bats receiving the distress signal through analysis of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and catacholaminargic systems. We measured the levels of neurotransmitters [serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE)] and stress hormones [(adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT)]. Our results showed that distress call emission elevated the level of ACTH and CORT, as well as 5-HT, DA and NE in the amygdala, for both the call emitting bat and the responding bat. Subsequently, we observed increased activity of glucocorticoid receptor and its steroid receptor co-activator (SRC-1). An expression of SRC-1 was up-regulated in the distress call emitter only, whereas it was at a similar level in both the call responder and silent bats. These findings suggest that bats emitting distress calls and also bats responding to such calls have similar neurotransmitter expression patterns, and may react similarly in response to stress.
The role of the coreceptor Orco in insect olfactory transduction
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Insects sense odorants with specialized odorant receptors (ORs). Each antennal olfactory receptor neuron expresses one OR with an odorant binding site together with a conserved coreceptor called Orco which does not bind odorants. Orco is necessary for localization of ORs to dendritic membranes and, thus, is essential for odorant detection. It forms a spontaneously opening cation channel, activated via phosphorylation by protein kinase C. Thereafter, Orco is also activated via cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Orco forms homo—as well as heteromers with ORs with unknown stoichiometry. Contradictory publications suggest different mechanisms of olfactory transduction. On the one hand, evidence accumulates for the employment of more than one G protein-coupled olfactory transduction cascade in different insects. On the other hand, results from other studies suggest that the OR–Orco complex functions as an odorant-gated cation channel mediating ionotropic signal transduction. This review analyzes conflicting hypotheses concerning the role of Orco in insect olfactory transduction. In conclusion, in situ studies in hawkmoths falsify the hypothesis that Orco underlies odorant-induced ionotropic signal transduction in all insect species. Instead, Orco forms a metabotropically gated, slow cation channel which controls odorant response threshold and kinetics of the sensory neuron.
The functional significance of lateral line canal morphology on the trunk of the marine teleost Xiphister atropurpureus (Stichaeidae)
Venue: Journal of Comparative Physiology A

We investigated the filter properties of the highly branched trunk lateral lines of the stichaeid Xiphister atropurpureus and compared them to the filter properties of simple lateral line canals. For this purpose artificial canals were constructed, some of which were fitted with artificial neuromasts. In still water, the response of a simple canal versus two types of Xiphister-like canals to a vibrating sphere stimulus were similar, as was the decrease in the responses as a function of sphere distance. Also comparable was the mechanical coupling between neighboring parts of the main canal. However, compared to the simple canal, the Xiphister-like canals showed a lower spatial resolution. Equipping artificial lateral line canals with artificial neuromasts revealed that Xiphister-like canals, i.e., lateral lines canals with tubuli that contained widely spaced pores, improve the signal-to-noise ratio in a highly turbulent environment. Even though a reduced spatial resolution is the price for this improvement, Xiphister may compensate for this compromise by having four instead of the usual single trunk lateral line canal. We suggest that lateral line canals with tubuli that contain widely spaced pores and multiple lateral line canals on each body side are an adaptation to a highly turbulent aquatic environment.