COMMENTARY
- Integrative physiology of transcellular and paracellular intestinal absorption
Summary: Discussion of advances, controversies and research ideas regarding transcellular versus paracellular intestinal absorption of sugar and amino acids and the integration of discrete molecular players and processes in relation to metabolic demands.
REVIEW
- Stereopsis in animals: evolution, function and mechanisms
Summary: Stereopsis has evolved independently in different animals. We review the various functions it serves and the variety of mechanisms that could underlie stereopsis in different species.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Sperm in hot water: direct and indirect thermal challenges interact to impact on brown trout sperm quality
Summary: Cold-acclimated brown trout males have higher sperm quality than warm-acclimated ones, but this quality is compromised when sperm are released into warm water.
- A disparity between locomotor economy and territory-holding ability in male house mice
Summary: Male house mice that control exclusive polygynous territories are less economical runners compared with non-territory-holding males.
- Hormonal responsiveness to stress is negatively associated with vulnerability to angling capture in fish
Highlighted Article: Fish showing lower hormonal stress responsiveness are more likely to be captured, indicating that stress physiology may be a trait under selection as a result of selective capture.
- Rates of hypoxia induction alter mechanisms of O2 uptake and the critical O2 tension of goldfish
Summary: Compared with typical rates of hypoxia induction used in closed-respirometry Pcrit experiments, gradual rates significantly lower the Pcrit of goldfish by increasing gill surface area and Hb–O2 binding affinity.
- Bigger is not better: cortisol-induced cardiac growth and dysfunction in salmonids
Summary: Demonstration of corticosteroid-induced heart disease in fish, showing that the molecular basis of heart disease is conserved from fish to mammals.
- Hindlimb muscle function in turtles: is novel skeletal design correlated with novel muscle function?
Summary: Novel muscle arrangements and leverage patterns associated with derived fusion of the pelvis to the shell in pleurodire turtles are associated with several novel muscle activity patterns in this lineage.
- Ceramide counteracts the effects of ghrelin on the metabolic control of food intake in rainbow trout
Summary: The effects of ghrelin on metabolic control of food intake in rainbow trout are counteracted by ceramide.
- Oxidative stress affects sperm performance and ejaculate redox status in subordinate house sparrows
Summary: Oxidative stress affects sperm velocity of low-ranked house sparrows.
- Embryonic hypoxia programmes postprandial cardiovascular function in adult common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina)
Summary: During embryonic development in underground nests, reptiles routinely experience hypoxia, which programmes cardiovascular physiology into adulthood, dictating convective transport during periods of elevated oxygen demand.
- Physiological responses to short-term thermal stress in mayfly (Neocloeon triangulifer) larvae in relation to upper thermal limits
Highlighted Article: Respirometry and gene expression experiments suggest that oxygen limitation may not dictate the chronic upper thermal limits of the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer.
- Sources of variance in immunological traits: evidence of congruent latitudinal trends across species
Summary: Geographic variability of immune responses in moths is species specific and suggests trade-offs with life-history traits.
- The planarian TRPA1 homolog mediates extraocular behavioral responses to near-ultraviolet light
Summary: Planarians use a non-traditional TRPA1-mediated mechanism for extraocular photoresponses to near-UV light, a response previously identified only in Drosophila.
- Early life experience drives short-term acclimation of metabolic and osmoregulatory traits in the leaf-eared mouse
Summary: Early life experience drives the magnitude and direction of physiological acclimation. In the leaf-eared mouse, short-term acclimation of metabolic and osmoregulatory traits is dependent on ontogeny.
- Cranking up the heat: relationships between energetically costly song features and the increase in thorax temperature in male crickets and katydids
Summary: A comparative analysis assessing the physiological costs insects incur by singing as an aspect of a trade-off that influences an individual's fitness and life history.
- Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) stimulates collagen synthesis in cultured rainbow trout cardiac fibroblasts
Summary: TGF-β1 causes cultured trout cardiac fibroblasts to increase collagen synthesis, suggesting that this cytokine may play a role in regulating the collagen content of the trout heart during thermal acclimation.
- Amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) modify biosonar output level and directivity during prey interception in the wild
Summary: Wild Amazon river dolphins increase biosonar beamwidth and decrease source level during prey approach while click rates transition into a buzz phase at the time of prey capture.
- Apparent changes in body insulation of juvenile king penguins suggest an energetic challenge during their early life at sea
Summary: Important changes in peripheral temperature patterns during foraging occur in juvenile king penguins throughout their first year at sea, probably reflecting changes in body insulation that suggest an energetic challenge.
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.