Thermoregulation in endothermic insects

On the basis of body weight, most flying insects have higher rates of metabolism, and hence heat production, than other animals. However, rapid rates of cooling because of small body size in most cases precludes appreciable endothermy. The body temperature of small flies in flight is probably close to ambient temperature, and that of flying butterflies and locusts is 5 degrees to 10 degrees C above ambient temperature. Many moths and bumblebees are insulated with scales and hair, and their metabolism during flight can cause the temperature of the flight muscles to increase 20 degrees to 30 degrees C above ambient temperature. Curiously, those insects which (because of size, insulation) retain the most heat in the thorax during flight, also require the highest muscle temperature in order to maintain sufficient power output to continue flight. The minimum muscle temperature for flight varies widely between different species, while the maximum temperature varies over the relatively narrow range of 40 degrees to 45 degrees C. As a consequence, those insects that necessarily generate high muscle temperatures during flight must maintain their thoracic temperature within a relatively narrow range during flight. Active heat loss from the thorax to the abdomen prevents overheating of the flight motor and allows some large moths to be active over a wide range of ambient temperatures. Bumblebees similarly transfer heat from the flight musculature into the abdomen while incubating their brood by abdominal contact. Many of the larger insects would remain grounded if they did not actively increase the temperature of their flight muscles prior to flight. Male tettigoniid grasshoppers elevate their thoracic temperature prior to singing. In addition, some of the social Hymenoptera activate the "flight" muscles specifically to produce heat not only prior to flight but also during nest temperature regulation. During this "shivering" the "flight" muscles are often activated in patterns different from those during flight. The muscles contract primarily against each other rather than on the wings. However, the rate of heat production during shivering and flight is primarily a function of the action potential frequency rather than of the patterns of activation. Thermoregulation is a key factor in the energetics of foraging of some of the flower-visiting insects. The higher their muscle temperature the more flowers they can visit per unit time. When food supplies are ample, bees may invest relatively large amounts of energy for thermoregulation. While shivering to maintain high body temperatures during the short intervals they are perched on flowers (as well as while in the nest), bumblebees often expend energy at rates similar to the rates of energy expenditure in flight. Unlike vertebrates, which usually regulate their body temperature at specific set points, the body temperature of insects is labile. It often appears to be maintained near the lower temperature at which the muscles are able to perform the function at hand. The insects' thermal adaptations may not differ as much from those of vertebrates as previously supposed when size, anatomy, and energy requirements are taken into account.     

Flight of Winter Moths Near 0{degrees}C

Some noctuid winter moths fly at near 0 degrees C by maintaining an elevated(30 degrees to 35 degrees C) thoracic muscle temperature. Geometrid winter moths sustain themselves in free flight at subzero muscle temperatures. However, the temperature characteristics of citrate synthase and pyruvate kinase from both of these different kinds of moths and from a sphinx moth that flies with a muscles temperature of 40 degrees C are nearly identical. Furthermore, mass-specific rates of energy expenditure of both kinds of winter moths are also similar at given thoracic temperature (near 0 degrees C). The geometrids that are able to fly with a thoracic temperature near 0 degrees C do so largely because of unusually low wing-loading, which permits a low energetic cost of flight.     

Temperature regulation by the inflorescence of philodendron

The inflorescence of Philodendron selloum temporarily maintains a core temperature of 38 degrees to 46 degrees C, despite air temperatures ranging from 4 degrees to 39 degrees C, by means of a variable metabolic rate. The heat is produced primarily by small, sterile male flowers that are capable of consuming oxygen at rates approaching those of flying hummingbirds and sphinx moths.     

广西麻鸡m6A甲基转移酶基因表达与肌纤维类型及成肌分化的关系

[目的]肌纤维类型及其转化的调节是改善肉质的重要途径,最新研究表明,m6A RNA甲基化修饰在肌肉的分化中发挥着重要作用.以优良的地方品种——广西麻鸡作为研究对象,研究其性成熟日龄不同部位肌纤维类型的组成差异,探究m6A甲基化转移酶相关基因甲基化转移酶样蛋白3/14(methyltransferase like 3/1...     

Effects of size and temperature on metabolic rate

We derive a general model, based on principles of biochemical kinetics and allometry, that characterizes the effects of temperature and body mass on metabolic rate. The model fits metabolic rates of microbes, ectotherms, endotherms (including those in hibernation), and plants in temperatures ranging from 0 degrees to 40 degrees C. Mass- and temperature-compensated resting metabolic rates of all organisms are similar: The lowest (for unicellular organisms and plants) is separated from the highest (for endothermic vertebrates) by a factor of about 20. Temperature and body size are primary determinants of biological time and ecological roles.     

新西兰白兔中Myh6基因的表达及与肌纤维性状的相关性

【目的】分析Myh6基因在新西兰白兔Oryctolagus cuniculus肌肉中的表达规律及与肌纤维特性的相关性,探究Myh6基因在肌纤维发育过程中的作用。【方法】利用冰冻切片技术测量了2、4、6、8、10、12周龄新西兰白兔背腿肌中不同类型肌纤维的密度、面积、长径和短径等性状,采用qRT-PCR测量了Myh6基因在不同周龄新西兰白兔背腿肌中的表达量,分析了上述性状与Myh6基因表达的相关性。【结果】2~8周龄新西兰白兔各类型肌纤维的密度逐渐变小,面积、长径和短径则逐渐变大(白肌纤维短径除外,仅在2~6周龄有变大趋势)。Myh6基因在4周龄表达量最高。Myh6基因表达量与公兔背部红肌纤维的面积呈极显著负相关(P0.01),与公兔腿部红肌纤维的密度呈极显著正相关(P0.01)。【结论】Myh6基因表达与肌纤维类型和肌纤维的生长发育密切相关。     

Cooperative thermal effects on the accumulation of potassium and sodium in frog muscle

Sodium-rich frog muscles are found to extrude sodium and reaccumulate potassium at 0 degrees C. The uptake of potassium by these muscles is studied at three different temperatures as a function of external potassium concentration, K(ex). The steady-state potassium content of the tissue is related to K(ex). by a sigmoidal cooperative curve at all temperatures. These results are compared with findings on a mammalian smooth muscle.     

Footwall refrigeration along a detachment fault: implications for the thermal evolution of core complexes

Oxygen isotope compositions of epidote and quartz from chloritic breccias that underlie the detachment fault in the metamorphic core complex of the Whipple Mountains yielded quartz-epidote fractionations that range from 4.1 to 6.4 per mil and increase systematically toward the fault. These fractionations give mean temperatures that decrease from approximately 432 degrees C at 50 meters below the fault to approximately 350 degrees C at 12 meters below the fault. This extreme thermal gradient of 82 degrees C over 38 meters (2160 degrees C per kilometer) is best explained by advective heat extraction by means of circulating surface-derived fluids. Models of lithospheric extension consider only conductive cooling resulting from tectonic denudation and thus require revision to include fluid-induced fault-zone refrigeration.     

Life at high temperatures

Water environments with temperatures up to and above boiling are commonly found in association with geothermal activity. At temperatures above 60 degrees C, only bacteria are found. Bacteria with temperature optima over the range 65 degrees to 105 degrees C have been obtained in pure culture and are the object of many research projects. The upper temperature limit for life in liquid water has not yet been defined, but is likely to be somewhere between 110 degrees and 200 degrees C, since amino acids and nucleotides are destroyed at temperatures over 200 degrees C. Because bacteria capable of growth at high temperatures are found in many phylogenetic groups, it is likely that the ability to grow at high temperature had a polyphyletic origin. The macromolecules of these organisms are inherently more stable to heat than those of conventional organisms, but only small changes in sequence can lead to increases in thermostability. Because of their unique properties, thermophilic organisms and their enzymes have many potential biotechnological uses, and extensive research on industrial applications is under way.     

Regulation of oxygen consumption and body temperature during torpor in a hummingbird, Eulampis jugularis

The West Indian hummingbird, Eulampis jugularis, maintained its body temperature in torpor at 18 degrees to 20 degrees C over an ambient temperature range of 2.5 degrees to 18 degrees C. At ambient below 18 degrees C oxygen consumption during torpor increased linearly with decreasing temperature. Thermal conductances were the same for resting and torpid Eulampis regulating their body temperatures at 40 degrees and 18 degrees C, respectively.     

Weakening of dunite by serpentine dehydration

A shear press has been used to determine the mechanical behavior of serpentinized dunite and forsterite at normal pressures to 50 kilobars, temperatures to 900 degrees C; and strain rates from 10(-1) to 10(-4) per second. The shear strength of dunite, containing less than 5 percent by volume of serpentine, is reduced by at least 30 percent as the temperature is raised from 300 degrees to 520 degrees C. Abundant kink bands develop at normal pressures above 35 kilobars at 27 degrees C and at lower pressures as the temperature is increased.     

基于表达谱芯片挖掘鸡骨骼肌不同类型肌纤维的差异表达基因

【目的】肌纤维类型的差异是直接影响肌肉生长发育和肉品质的重要因素,红肌纤维比例高的肌肉肉品质要显著优于白肌纤维比例高的肌肉,然而,目前对于鸡骨骼肌纤维类型形成及转换的分子调控机制尚不明确。本究以中国优良的地方品种清远麻鸡为研究对象,首次对其骨骼肌中不同类型肌肉的转录组差异进行了研究,以期挖掘在鸡肌纤维生成和类型转换中发挥调控作用的关键因子。【方法】采用Agilent鸡全基因组表达谱芯片对清远麻鸡骨骼肌表型差异较大的比目鱼肌和趾长伸肌中与肌纤维类型组成和转换相关的候选基因进行系统筛查,采用荧光定量PCR对芯片筛选出的差异表达基因进行验证,采用慢病毒质粒包装系统构建特异靶向鸡PPARGC1A基因的RNA干扰慢病毒载体进行基因功能研究。【结果】芯片结果共发现差异倍数在2倍及以上的基因1 224个(P0.05,FC≥2),以趾长伸肌作为参照,比目鱼肌中上调基因为654个,下调基因为570个,尽管芯片和荧光定量PCR两种方法得出的差异倍数并不完全一致,但所选基因的表达趋势是一致的,表明芯片结果是可靠的。对差异表达基因进行GO(GO ontology)功能分类,共发现了74个显著性GO,主要分为生物学过程、分子功能和细胞组分等3大类。基于KEGG Pathway分析发现,一些已知的与肌纤维类型转换、肌肉发育以及脂质代谢相关的信号通路在两种类型的肌肉中被显著富集。综合差异基因的GO、KEGG Pathway和共表达网络分析,推测PRKAG3,ATP2A2以及PPARGC1A可能是与肌纤维类型性状紧密关联的关键基因。进一步对PPARGC1A基因进行功能研究发现,PPARGC1A基因的敲低,引起了PPP3CA,MEF2C以及SM等慢肌纤维标志基因以及与肌纤维发育与转换相关基因表达水平的显著降低,而快肌纤维标志基因FWM的表达水平则显著上升。【结论】揭示了鸡红肌和白肌两种不同类型肌肉间的转录组差异,证明了PPARGC1A基因能够与钙离子信号通路相关基因协同从而在鸡肌纤维类型组成和转换中发挥着重要作用,从而为中国地方鸡肉品质性状的遗传改良提供一定的理论依据。     

Freezing tolerance in an adult insect

The adult carabid beetle Pterostichus brevicornis tolerates freezing under natural conditions. Laboratory tests confirm that winter beetles tolerate temperatures below -35 degrees C, whereas summer beetles die if frozen at -6.6 degrees C. Winter beetles can be cooled to about -10 degrees C before freezing, and they thaw near -3.5 degrees C. Summer beetles thaw at -0.7 degrees C. To avoid freezing damage even in winter beetles, cooling rates must be near 20 degrees C per hour or less.     

Antigenic study of the protein from a defective strain of tobacco mosaic virus

Soluble protein from the defective strain PM2 of tobacco mosaic virus can be recognized as antigenically distinct from the protein of the wild-type tobacco mosaic virus by Ouchterlony and immunoelectrophoretic analyses at temperatures below 37 degrees C. At these temperatures a polymerized state of protein with a characteristic antigenic structure is present in the wild-type virus; this structure is absent from the PM2 preparations. Above 37 degrees C the precipitin patterns for tobacco mosaic virus and PM2 appear identical.     

不同含水率速生杨木DMA图谱分析及应用

采用动态热机械分析仪对绝干、6％、12％、18％、30％、50％、100％和水饱和8种含水率速生杨木试件进行了动态黏弹性分析.动态力学分析参数为:温度扫描范围35～ 350℃,升温速度5℃·min-1,测量频率10Hz.储能模量的变化表明:各含水率试件在整个扫描温度范围内均出现2个明显的弹性转变过程,完成次级弹性转变的...     

Thoracic Temperature Stabilization byn Blood Circulation in a Free-Flying Moth

The sphinx moth, Manduca sexta, maintains its thoracic temperature within a degree of 42 degrees C while in free flight over a range of air temperatures from about 17 degrees to 32 degrees C. Tying off the dorsal vessel abolishes temperature control. Moths with tied off vessels overheat and then stop flying at air temperatures of about 23 degrees C. However, flight at this temperature is possible when the thoracic scales are removed. The mechanism of temperature control involves transfer of the heat produced in the thorax to the blood pumped from the dorsal vessel, and the subsequent dissipation of this heat when the blood returns to the relatively cool abdomen.     

Effect of Acclimation on the Preferred Body Temperature of the Lizard,Sceloporus occidentalis

The preferred body temperature was determined for several groups of Sceloporus occidentalis previously acclimated to several constant temperature levels. Acclimation to a high temperature (35 degrees C) resulted in the selection of a lowered mean preferred body temperature, whereas acclimation to lower temperatures (12 degrees C and 25 degrees C) produced no change in the preferred body temperature.     

Temperatures of desert plants: another perspective on the adaptability of leaf size

Surface temperatures of perennial plants in the Sonoran Desert of California ranged from 20 degrees C above air temperature to over 18 degrees C below air temperature during rapid growth periods following rain. Desert cactus with large photosynthetic stem surfaces had the highest temperatures and lowest transpiration rates. Perennial plants with relatively small leaves had moderate transpiration rates and leaf temperatures close to air temperature. Desert perennials with relatively large leaves had leaf temperatures well below air temperature along with the greatest accompanying transpiration rates of over 20 micrograms per square centimeter per second, but also had correspondingly low temperatures for maximum photosynthesis. The low leaf temperatures measured for these large-leafed species are an exception to the more common pattern for desert plants whereby a smaller leaf size prevents overheating and leads to reductions in transpiration and increased water-use efficiency. The contribution of a larger leaf size to a lower leaf temperature, and thus higher rate of photosynthesis for these large-leafed species, may represent an adaptive pattern previously unrecognized for desert plants.     

Temperature Coupling in the Vocal Communication System of the Gray Tree Frog, Hyla versicolor

The gray tree frog mates over a temperature range of at least 9 degrees C. Gravid females, tested at two different temperatures, preferred synthetic mating calls with temperature-dependent temporal properties similar to those produced by a male at about the same temperature as their own. Thus, the vocalization system and the temporal pattern recognition system are affected by temperature in a qualitatively similar fashion.     

Kinetics of the fe2+-mg, order-disorder reaction in anthophyllites: quantitative cooling rates

The kinetics of the Fe(2+)-Mg, order-disorder phenomenon in a highly ordered natural anthophyllite have been determined over the temperature range from 400 degrees to 720 degrees C at a pressure of 2 kilobars. At temperatures of 600 degrees C and above, equilibrium is attained by disordering as well as ordering reactions. The intracrystalline exchange is defined by a standard Gibbs free energy of 4247 +/- 54 calories per formula unit. Rate studies at 550 degrees and 500 degrees C show that equilibrium is attained by ordering but not by disordering within the same time scale and that the exchange reaction is characterized by an activation energy of approximately 55 kilocalories per formula unit. An equilibration temperature for the natural anthophyllite of 270 degrees C is determined from the termination of the ordering process owing to excessively slow reaction kinetics after approximately 10(7) years. From the rate constants of the exchange process, for different crystallization temperatures, the apparent equilibration temperature of 270 degrees C defines a maximum linear cooling rate for the rock of 1 x 10(4) degrees C per year.