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COMMENTARY
Structural plasticity of the avian pectoralis: a case for geometry and the forgotten organelle
Ana Gabriela Jimenez
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb234120 doi: 10.1242/jeb.234120 Published 4 December 2020
Ana Gabriela Jimenez
Department of Biology, Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346, USA
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ABSTRACT

The avian pectoralis muscle demonstrates incredible plasticity. This muscle is the sole thermogenic organ of small passerine birds, and many temperate small passerines increase pectoralis mass in winter, potentially to increase heat production. Similarly, this organ can double in size prior to migration in migratory birds. In this Commentary, following the August Krogh principle, I argue that the avian pectoralis is the perfect tissue to reveal general features of muscle physiology. For example, in both mammals and birds, skeletal muscle fiber diameter is generally accepted to be within 10–100 µm. This size constraint is assumed to include reaction-diffusion limitations, coupled with metabolic cost savings associated with fiber geometry. However, avian muscle fiber structure has been largely ignored in this field, and the extensive remodeling of the avian pectoralis provides a system with which to investigate this. In addition, fiber diameter has been linked to whole-animal metabolic rates, although this has only been addressed in a handful of bird studies, some of which demonstrate previously unreported levels of plasticity and flexibility. Similarly, myonuclei, which are responsible for protein turnover within the fiber, have been forgotten in the avian literature. The few studies that have addressed myonuclear domain (MND) changes in avian muscle have found rates of change not previously seen in mammals. Both fiber diameter and MND have strong implications for aging rates; most aging mammals demonstrate muscular atrophy (a decrease in fiber diameter) and changes in MND. As I discuss here, these features are likely to differ in birds.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

  • Funding

    All our previous work on muscle histology of birds has been funded by Colgate University’s Research Council grant and Upstate Institute grant to A.G.J.

  • © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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Keywords

  • Muscle fiber diameter
  • Muscle ultrastructure
  • Myonuclear domain

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COMMENTARY
Structural plasticity of the avian pectoralis: a case for geometry and the forgotten organelle
Ana Gabriela Jimenez
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb234120 doi: 10.1242/jeb.234120 Published 4 December 2020
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COMMENTARY
Structural plasticity of the avian pectoralis: a case for geometry and the forgotten organelle
Ana Gabriela Jimenez
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb234120 doi: 10.1242/jeb.234120 Published 4 December 2020

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Article navigation

  • Top
  • Article
    • ABSTRACT
    • Introduction
    • Plasticity of the avian pectoralis
    • Muscle fiber diameter in birds
    • Are myonuclei the forgotten organelle in avian muscle studies?
    • Are all myonuclei equal?
    • What are the potential molecular mechanisms?
    • Conclusions
    • Acknowledgements
    • Footnotes
    • References
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