Table of Contents
INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
REVIEWS
- Evolution of neuropeptide signalling systems
Summary: A review of the revolutionary advances in our knowledge of the evolution of neuropeptide signalling systems that have been enabled by comparative genomics and neuropeptide receptor deorphanisation.
- The long and the short of it – a perspective on peptidergic regulation of circuits and behaviour
Summary: Neuropeptides are the largest class of neuromodulators in nervous systems. Here we review the general principles and mechanistic insights that have emerged from studies of various animal models and discuss some of the outstanding major challenges.
- New techniques, applications and perspectives in neuropeptide research
Summary: This Review discusses a range of molecular aspects of neuropeptide biology and integrates techniques, model organisms and applications, highlighting new perspectives enabled by technical advancements in neuropeptide research.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Reducing gravity takes the bounce out of running
Highlighted Article: During running, humans take higher leaps in normal gravity than in reduced gravity, in order to optimally balance the competing costs of stance and leg-swing work.
- Honey bee (Apis mellifera) sociability and nestmate affiliation are dependent on the social environment experienced post-eclosion
Summary: Sociability and nestmate affiliation in honey bees are influenced by social experience and exposure to the hive environment in early adult life.
- Directionality of nose-emitted echolocation calls from bats without a nose leaf (Plecotus auritus)
Summary: Nose-emitting bats without an obvious means of emitting a narrow bio-sonar beam still emit a highly directional beam, potentially by emitting sound through the mouth as well as the nostrils.
- Exposure to CO2 influences metabolism, calcification and gene expression of the thecosome pteropod Limacina retroversa
Summary: Severity and duration of CO2 exposure influence calcification and respiration differentially in Limacina retroversa, as shown by organismal and gene expression responses, while captivity interactively influences respiration and gene expression.
- Eating when ill is risky: immune defense impairs food detoxification in the caterpillar Manduca sexta
Editors' Choice: Appetite loss during illness occurs in all animals. It may be an important protection against food toxins. Mobilizing immune defense depresses the ability to detoxify food (as shown in caterpillars).
- Visual associative learning in wood ants
Summary: Ants form an associative memory of a visual cue paired with a reward through classical conditioning. This allows visual associative learning to be studied in fixed rather than free-moving ants.
- GABAA receptors activate fish feeding behaviour via two distinct functional pathways
Summary: Behavioural tests combined with cellular and molecular electrophysiology clarify molecular mechanisms that control fish feeding, revealing two partially competitive mechanisms originating from the same neural receptor.
- Conversion efficiency of α-linolenic acid to omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids in aerial insectivore chicks
Highlighted Article: A stable-isotope-labeled tracer reveals the mechanism for omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) limitation in a wild avian insectivore, showing that HUFAs are an ecologically essential nutrient.
- Ontogeny and morphometrics of the gills and swim bladder of air-breathing striped catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus
Summary: The paradox of how an active tropical fish can meet its oxygen requirements using gills with an apparently small surface area is explained.
CORRECTIONS
This issue
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
Editors’ choice - A solution to Nature's haemoglobin knockout: a plasma-accessible carbonic anhydrase catalyses CO2 excretion in Antarctic icefish gills
Most animals carry carbonic anhydrase in their cells to dispose of waste carbon dioxide in the blood, but how do Antarctic icefish that have lost their red blood cells get around the problem? Colin Brauner and team demonstrate that they have relocated the key enzyme to their gills.
Commentary - Genetic accommodation and the role of ancestral plasticity in the evolution of insect eusociality
Social insects are excellent models for studying phenotypic plasticity. Beryl Jones and Gene Robinson review issues associated with understanding the genetics of plasticity-first evolution and outline an empirical approach to help advance this field.
Featured article – Using a shell as a wing: pairing of dissimilar appendages in atlantiid heteropod swimming
Most animals flap with a pair of wings, but not Atlanta selvagensis planktonic snails. According to David Murphy and colleagues they flap with one wing and their shell.
JEB at SICB 2019
If you’re going to the SICB annual meeting in Tampa from 3 to 7 January, call by Booth #313 to chat to JEB Reviews Editor Charlotte Rutledge and pick up the new JEB T shirt and 2019 calendar, and other JEB goodies!
Did you know The Company of Biologists invites applications from the organisers of a range of charitable activities, including meetings, workshops and conferences, in the fields covered by our journals? The next deadline for grant applications is 4 January.
Rasmus Ern highlights a recent preprint from Takuya Sato and colleagues that investigates the effects of predation pressure and resource abundance on foraging behaviour of fish in social dominance hierarchies.