INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
- D2 dopamine receptor activation induces female preference for male song in the monogamous zebra finch
Highlighted Article: D2 dopamine receptors induce partner song preference in monogamous female zebra finches, indicating conserved evolutionary mechanisms underlying pair-bond formation.
- Does juvenile hormone prompt oxidative stress in male damselflies?
Summary: We propose that in invertebrates, juvenile hormone is a molecular mediator of the relationship between oxidative stress status and secondary sexual characteristics.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
- Magnetic body alignment in migratory songbirds: a computer vision approach
Summary: Spontaneous alignment with the magnetic field in resting migratory songbirds revealed by computer vision suggests behaviour associated with magnetic field perception and compass calibration.
- Development of a deep neural network for automated electromyographic pattern classification
Summary: The quality of surface electromyography recordings can be automatically classified with an accuracy of 99.55% by a deep neural network (AlexNet).
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Ventilation and gas exchange before and after voluntary static surface breath-holds in clinically healthy bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus
Summary: Evaluation of how lung function and end-expiratory gas concentration change during recovery following a static breath-hold in dolphins.
- Autonomic control of cardiovascular adjustments associated with orthostasis in the scansorial snake Boa constrictor
Summary: In Boa constrictor, orthostatic tachycardia (of adrenergic/cholinergic origin) prevents excessive arterial pressure reduction at the beginning of body inclinations, and vasomotor adjustments (of adrenergic origin) restore arterial pressure during long-term inclinations.
- In situ quantification of individual mRNA transcripts in melanocytes discloses gene regulation of relevance to speciation
Summary: Single-cell transcript quantification with cellular spatial resolution reveals the genetic basis of an evolutionarily young transition in pigmentation patterns in crows.
- Effects of anoxia on ATP, water, ion and pH balance in an insect (Locusta migratoria)
Summary: Prolonged anoxic exposure causes gradual disruption of ATP, ion, water and pH homeostasis, each of which can induce considerable cellular damage in Locusta migratoria.
- Adaptive signatures in thermal performance of the temperate coral Astrangia poculata
Summary: Acute temperature stress assays reveal population-level differences in metabolic rate of the temperate coral Astrangia poculata, providing evidence of adaptation to the corals' natal thermal environments.
- External mechanical work done during the acceleration stage of maximal sprint running and its association with running performance
Summary: In accelerated sprint running over 50 m, work done at every step mainly consists of that during the propulsive phase in the horizontal anterior–posterior direction.
- Patterns of alternative splicing in response to cold acclimation in fish
Summary: Qualitative changes in gene expression, such as those mediated by alternative splicing of mRNAs, are involved in phenotypic plasticity in response to prolonged cold acclimation in ectothermic animals.
- Dynamics of blood circulation during diving in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): the role of the retia mirabilia
Summary: A new hemodynamic model may clarify vascular dynamics in the diving bottlenose dolphin and explain the role of the retia mirabilia for the vascular supply to the brain.
- Hawaiian monk seals exhibit behavioral flexibility when targeting prey of different size and shape
Summary: Hawaiian monk seals use biting and suction feeding, and these strategies are behaviorally and kinematically distinct. Prey size and shape affect how frequently each feeding strategy is used.
- Effects of the maternal and current social environment on female body mass and reproductive traits in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)
Summary: The maternal and current social environment have interacting effects on body mass of female Japanese quail, but only the current social environment affects reproductive traits and offspring mass at hatching.
- Behavioral responses of individual blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) to mid-frequency military sonar
Highlighted Article: Controlled exposure experiments using simulated mid-frequency sonar and pseudo-random noise revealed individual variation in behavioral responses of blue whales. Responses depended on contextual factors, including behavioral state, proximity and prey.
- Symmetry breaking and pivotal individuals during the reunification of ant colonies
Highlighted Article: Temnothorax rugatulus ants can reunite their colonies after being divided, and only a small minority of worker ants participate in the reunification effort.
- Flight muscle protein damage during endurance flight is related to energy expenditure but not dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids in a migratory bird
Summary: Migration is oxidatively challenging for birds, and in yellow-rumped warblers, the oxidative challenge is strongly related to energy expenditure during flight but not dietary long-chain PUFA.
- Gut microbiota affects development and olfactory behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Summary: Fruit flies raised on food enriched with one of their gut microbes change their preference for these microbes and their developmental rate depending on their specific microbe pre-exposure.
- Temperature and external K+ dependence of electrical excitation in ventricular myocytes of cod-like fishes
Summary: Electrical excitability of the heart in three Gadiformes species (polar cod, navaga and burbot) is resistant against acute warming, but less so against simultaneous temperature and exercise stress.
- Parasitic gut infection in Libellula pulchella causes functional and molecular resemblance of dragonfly flight muscle to skeletal muscle of obese vertebrates
Summary: Similarity of effects of parasitic infections on muscle properties in flying insects to that of obesity in vertebrates enhances support for the concept that metabolic disease is not limited to vertebrates, and can be mediated by environmental factors.
- Do the relationships between hindlimb anatomy and sprint speed variation differ between sexes in Anolis lizards?
Summary: Analyses of limb segment lengths and muscle size and architecture in Anolis lizards provides evidence for different proximate drivers of sprint speed variation in males and females.
- Encoding phase spectrum for evaluating ‘electric qualia’
Summary: Total energy, amplitude and phase spectra of electrosensory signals are differently encoded by two types of primary afferents, originating a multidimensional manifold for evaluating electric qualia of actively explored objects.
- Skeletal kinematics of the hyoid arch in the suction-feeding shark Chiloscyllium plagiosum
Summary: XROMM reveals the 3D hyoid arch motions responsible for high-performance suction feeding in bamboo sharks.
- In vivo effects of temperature on the heart and pyloric rhythms in the crab Cancer borealis
Summary: Temperature elevation increases the frequency of the heart and pyloric rhythms of the crab Cancer borealis, but the heart rhythm has a higher critical temperature than the pyloric rhythm.
This issue
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
Predicting the Future: Species Survival in a Changing World
Read our new special issue exploring the significant role of experimental biology in assessing and predicting the susceptibility or resilience of species to future, human-induced environmental change.
Big Biology Podcast - Hollie Putnam and coral bleaching
Catch the next JEB-sponsored episode of the Big Biology Podcast where Art and Marty talk to Hollie Putnam about the causes of coral bleaching and the basic biology of corals in the hope of selectively breeding corals that can better tolerate future ocean conditions.
Read Hollie's Review on the subject, which is featured in our current special issue.
Stark trade-offs and elegant solutions in arthropod visual systems
Many elegant eye specializations that evolved in response to visual challenges continue to be discovered. A new Review by Meece et al. summarises exciting solutions evolved by insects and other arthropods in response to specific visual challenges.
Head bobbing gives pigeons a sense of perspective
Pigeons might look goofy with their head-bobbing walk, but it turns out that the ungainly head manoeuvre allows the birds to judge distance.