INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
REVIEW
- Understanding how animal groups achieve coordinated movement
Summary: This review highlights the general principles of how animal groups achieve coordinated movement. Differences in the interaction rules of animals within and between species are discussed.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Wolbachia increases the susceptibility of a parasitoid wasp to hyperparasitism
Highlighted Article: Under natural conditions, Wolbachia-infected individuals of the parasitoid wasp Hyposoter horticola experience greater hyperparasitism than uninfected individuals.
- Vertebral bending mechanics and xenarthrous morphology in the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)
Summary: Xenarthrous articulations perform the dual role of stiffening the vertebral column and increasing mobility, resulting in passively stable vertebrae that are capable of substantial bending under appropriate load.
- Insulin effects on honeybee appetitive behaviour
Summary: Insulin improves chemosensory responsiveness of young honeybees, but not their abilities to discriminate odours. Thus, the insulin signalling pathway would be readily mature in young hive bees.
- Improved cardiac filling facilitates the postprandial elevation of stroke volume in Python regius
Summary: Increased cardiac filling, as a result of enhanced venous tone, is identified as the underlying cause for the doubled stroke volume after feeding in ball pythons.
- Evaluating the role of NRF-1 in the regulation of the goldfish COX4-1 gene in response to temperature
Summary: The promoter of a critical metabolic gene is used to investigate why fish increase expression of metabolic genes in response to a decrease in body temperature.
- Voltage-gated calcium channels of Paramecium cilia
Highlighted Article: Three voltage-gated calcium channel alpha 1 subunit proteins are the channels responsible for depolarization-induced backward swimming in Paramecium tetraurelia. Pawn proteins are crucial in the ciliary localization of these channels.
- The ocelli of Archaeognatha (Hexapoda): functional morphology, pigment migration and chemical nature of the reflective tapetum
Summary: The ocelli of the jumping bristletail Machilis hrabei have a reflective tapetum containing xanthine crystals. The screening pigment in the photoreceptor cells migrates behind the tapetum upon dark adaptation.
- Energy and lipid metabolism during direct and diapause development in a pierid butterfly
Summary: Diapause termination in Pieris napi requires chilling, energy is stored for post-diapause purposes and the diapause lipidome is distinct but lacks dynamics during diapause development.
- Do respiratory limitations affect metabolism of insect larvae before moulting? An empirical test at the individual level
Summary: Respiratory limitations for metabolism appear in the penultimate larval instar but not in the last instar in growing butterfly larvae, supporting oxygen-dependent moult induction in larva-to-larva moults.
- Gene copy silencing and DNA methylation in natural and artificially produced allopolyploid fish
Summary: Allelic silencing is not a ubiquitous mechanism to manage an abrupt ploidy and heterozygosity increase in fish, and long-term evolutionary processes have effects on allele expression patterns and on DNA methylation levels.
- Experimental tests of planar strain theory for predicting bone cross-sectional longitudinal and shear strains
Summary: Experimental validation supports the use of planar strain theory for predicting bone cross-section longitudinal strains but requires further investigation for its application to shear strains.
- Testosterone activates sexual dimorphism including male-typical carotenoid but not melanin plumage pigmentation in a female bird
Highlighted Article: Female red-backed fairy-wrens express male-typical traits in response to exogenous and endogenous testosterone, including carotenoid-pigmented plumage, darkened bill and an enlarged sperm storage organ, but are constrained in production of melanin-pigmented plumage.
- Flowing water affects fish fast-starts: escape performance of the Hawaiian stream goby, Sicyopterus stimpsoni
Summary: Fast-start escape trials conducted in flow tanks indicate that fish heading into flow frequently fail to respond when attacked frontally, potentially because mechanical stimuli are masked by flowing water.
- Determinants of preferred ground clearance during swing phase of human walking
Summary: The foot's ground clearance during each swing phase of walking may be explained by competing costs of lifting the foot versus scuffing it on the ground, modulated by movement variability.
- Acclimation potential of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) from the rapidly warming Arctic Ocean
Summary: The Arctic fish species Boreogadus saida may be migrating northwards with ocean warming, but can clearly physiologically tolerate temperatures above those of its current habitat.
- Metabolic recovery from drowning by insect pupae
Highlighted Article: Despite their status as terrestrial insects, pupae of Manduca sexta survived 5 days underwater and showed diverse and unusual patterns of CO2 emission during recovery.
- Ontogeny of learning walks and the acquisition of landmark information in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis
Summary: When leaving their nest for the first time, Cataglyphis fortis ants perform a sequence of learning walks during which they learn the surrounding landmark panorama with increasing accuracy.
- Aerodynamic consequences of wing morphing during emulated take-off and gliding in birds
Summary: Wing posture has a greater effect on aerodynamic performance during emulated flapping than during emulated gliding. Extended wing morphology (i.e. emarginate primaries) may be more important during take-off and landing than during gliding.
- Dietary flavonoids advance timing of moult but do not affect redox status of juvenile blackbirds (Turdus merula)
Summary: Dietary flavonoids, despite their potential antioxidant activity, do not affect redox status in blackbirds; however, flavonoids do promote the development of melanin-rich feathers.
- The diversity and evolution of locomotor muscle properties in anurans
Summary: Frog muscle contractile properties (semimembranosus and plantaris) vary widely across taxa and show correlations to locomotor performance, particularly jumping performance.
This issue
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
The Company of Biologists commits to the Transformative Journal approach
The Company of Biologists is the first not-for-profit publisher to commit to this approach. The Company's three hybrid journals - Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology - have chosen the 'transformative' route towards Open Access. Find out more in this interview with Claire Moulton, Publisher at The Company of Biologists and on our dedicated Transformative Journals page.
Handing over the reins
The start of August signals a change for Journal of Experimental Biology as we say a fond farewell to Editor-in-Chief of 25 years Hans Hoppeler and extend a warm welcome to his successor, Craig Franklin.
Minute mecysmaucheniid spider triggers fastest trap-jaws
Research by Hannah Wood shows that Zearchaea spiders use a spring loaded catapult mechanism to slam closed the fastest spider jaws on the planet, at an astonishing speed of 18.2 m s−1.
In the field: an interview with Sandra Binning and Dominique Roche
Together, Sandra Binning and Dominique Roche investigate how animals respond to environmental stress. In an interview, they talk about taking their children into the field and keeping safe while working in marine locations.
Surviving anoxia: the maintenance of energy production and tissue integrity during anoxia and reoxygenation
In their Review, Georgina Cox and Todd Gillis use knowledge gained from studies of anoxia-tolerant species to identify common strategies and novel solutions for the challenges of anoxia exposure.