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Energy-saving mechanisms in muscle: the minimization strategy

Kevin E. Conley^1,2,3,* and Stan L. Lindstedt⁴

¹ Department of Radiology, Box 357115, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-7115, USA
² Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-7115, USA
³ Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-7115, USA
⁴ Physiology and Functional Morphology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5640, USA

View larger version (21K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. The percentage of contractile elements (myosin ATPase; open columns), mitochondria (pale shaded columns) and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR; dark shaded columns) in rattlesnake tailshaker muscle and body muscle. Data from Schaeffer et al. (1996).

View larger version (15K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Proportions of contractile elements (myosin ATPase; open columns), mitochondria (pale shaded columns) and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR; dark shaded columns) in synchronous muscle (A), asynchronous muscle (B) and singing muscle (C) from insects. The frequencies noted reflect the typical contraction rates for flying or singing for the muscle illustrated. Data from Casey and Ellington (1989), Josephson and Young (1985) and Ready (1986).

View larger version (13K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Percentage of the muscle's length change in each twitch (i.e. strain) in flying and singing muscle as a function of contraction frequency. The vertical line represents the range of strain values found for tailshaker muscle. Data are from Biewener et al. (1998), Ellington (1991), Gilmour and Ellington (1993), Girgenrath and Marsh (1999), Josephson and Stevenson (1991) and Moon et al. (2002).

View larger version (21K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Cost per contraction in fliers and sound-producers as a function of contraction frequency. The circles are for fliers with synchronous muscle, the squares are for fliers with asynchronous muscle and the triangles are for singing species. All data are for insects, and the line is the range of frequency used by the tailshaker muscle of the rattlesnake (reprinted with permission from Nature 383, 71. © 1996 Macmillan Magazines Ltd). The inset shows the data for singing species and the rattlesnake (horizontal bar).