Integrative and Comparative Biology最新文献

{"title":"Ethical Implications of Being a Holobiont.","authors":"Scott Gilbert","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf124","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Developmental plasticity and holobiont theory have undermined the normative concepts of biological individuality. However, such traditional ideas of biological individuality have helped define and support Western ethical views into the 21st century. Guided by some of the ethical formulae of Simone Weil, Hans Jonas, and Alastair MacIntyre, this essay attempts to outline some possible trajectories for an ethics that is bounded by these new biological paradigms of environmental agency. Specifically, the ecological developmental biology concepts of plasticity and holobiont theory permit the \"ethics of attention\" to focus on the partnerships of living beings. Highlighting environmentally integrated life cycles and their sympoietic comings-into being provides new perspectives on life and on the roles of science in larger cultural contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144676635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cnidarian eyes as a meta-model to explore evolutionary repeatability over deep time.","authors":"Todd H Oakley","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding the extent and nature of evolutionary repeatability is a fundamental goal in biology, with broad relevance to fields including protein engineering, macroevolution, and climate change biology. Studies of evolutionary repeatability often capitalize on convergent evolution as a source of natural replication to examine which genes are recruited or reused in similar traits or adaptations in different lineages. At least two key questions remain: First, how often are the same genes reused across convergent lineages; i.e., what is the extent of gene reuse? Second, what properties make genes more likely to be reused; i.e., what is the nature of gene reuse? An emerging hypothesis is that the overall extent of gene reuse declines with increasing divergence time between converged lineages. While this prediction is supported over shorter timescales, it remains insufficiently tested on deeper times. In this review, I argue that functional compatibility-the degree to which a gene's capabilities align with the functional demands of convergent traits-is a critical factor governing both the extent and nature of gene reuse. I also examine how definitions of gene reuse, ranging from identical substitutions in orthologs to recruitment of paralogs from the same gene families, might affect interpretations and quantification of gene reuse. To explore these ideas, I compare results from the fields of comparative genomics and evo-devo, highlighting possible tension between studies of shorter (<100 MY) versus longer timescales. I also present animal eyes-especially eyes of Medusozoa (Cnidaria)-as a compelling meta-model for studying evolutionary repeatability. Animal eyes have well characterized genetic and functional bases in model organisms and they evolved convergently many times, including at least nine times in cnidarians, spanning a wide range divergence times. Therefore animals eyes, especially when including Medusozoa, will have the potential to test the extent and nature of gene reuse across a wide range of divergence times, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay between constraint, innovation, and divergence time across the history of life.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144676634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Natural frequencies in sexual pelvic thrusting.","authors":"Joseph Nehme-Haily, Luping Yin, Veronica Diaz, Dayu Lin, David L Hu","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf135","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Seventy % of mammals copulate using repeated pelvic thrusting, while the transfer of sperm requires just a single intromission. Why did thrusting evolve to be the dominant form of sexual intercourse? In this study, we investigate how the rate of sexual pelvic thrusting changes with body size. By analyzing films of copulating mammals, from mice Mus musculus to elephants Elephantidae, we find that bigger animals thrust slower. The rate of pelvic thrusting decreases from 6 Hz for the pocket mouse Pergonathus to 1.3-1.8 Hz for humans to an absence of thrusting for the rhino Rhinocerotidae and elephant Elephantidae families. To understand this dependence on body size, we consider the spring-like behavior of the legs, which is associated with the elasticity of the body's muscles, tendons, and ligaments. For both running and thrusting, a maximum amplitude and great energy savings can be achieved if the system is oscillated at its resonant or natural frequency. Resonant frequencies, as measured through previous studies of running in dogs Canis familiaris and horses Equus ferus caballus, show good agreement with sexual thrusting frequencies. Running and sexual thrusting have nothing in common from a behavioral perspective, but from a physical perspective, they are both constrained by the same musculoskeletal systems, and both take advantage of resonance. Our findings may provide improved treatments for human sexual dysfunction as well as improving breeding strategies for domestic mammals.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144676610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metabolic energetics of developing fish from different thermal habitats exposed to chronic and acute temperature stressors.","authors":"Ione Hunt von Herbing, T C F Pan","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf129","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over 97% of ray-finned fish produce free-swimming larvae. With survival rates of less than 0.01% and radically different morphologies from adults, fish larvae play a crucial role in adapting to environmental changes and dispersing fish populations. Despite over a century of research, a critical gap remains in quantifying the energetic strategies of developing fish to determine how species from different thermal environments self-regulate in response to chronic and acute temperature changes and, the energetic costs associated with allostatic adjustments, referred to as allostatic load (RAL). This study examines the metabolic differences in yolk-sac larvae and their capacity to adjust to energetically adjust to chronic and acute temperature change. We studied the yolk-sac stages of two species: 1) zebrafish (Danio rerio, a tropical eurythermal freshwater fish) and 2) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua, a cold-temperate stenothermal marine fish), under control conditions (28°C for zebrafish, 5°C for Atlantic cod) and compared responses to larvae raised at chronic higher temperatures (31°C for zebrafish, 10°C for Atlantic cod) and exposed to acute temperature change for one hour in a respirometer (3°C, zebrafish; 5°C, Atlantic cod) during the first week of larval life. Generally, both species exhibited higher metabolic rates and greater energetic-related changes in response to chronic stressors than to acute stressors compared to control conditions. While an acute increase in temperature resulted in some metabolic compensation, acute decrease in temperature led to what appeared to be metabolic dysregulation. Both species demonstrated higher variability in response to acute decreases in temperature compared to other treatments. Overall, the range of metabolic responsiveness was greater in Atlantic cod than in zebrafish, suggesting that stenothermal Atlantic cod have less resilience to changes in temperature than eurythermal zebrafish, at least at the yolk-sac stage and, during the first week of larval life when the yolk limits energy supply.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144661097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plasticity, not genetics, shapes individual responses to thermal stress in non-native populations of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas).","authors":"Yaamini R Venkataraman, Julia C Kelso, Catlin Payne, Heidi L Freitas, Jasmine Kohler, Carolyn K Tepolt","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf131","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Temperature is a major driver of individual performance in ectotherms, with this impact depending on stressor intensity and duration. Differences in individual response across temperature, time, and populations are shaped by the interplay between evolutionary adaptation and phenotypic plasticity. Some populations are able to thrive in novel and changing environments despite limited genetic diversity, raising the question of how plasticity and adaptation interact after significant genetic diversity loss. The European green crab (Carcinus maenas) is a textbook example of this phenomenon: invasive populations boast a broad thermal tolerance and exceptional thermal flexibility even after repeated genetic bottlenecks. Despite this loss of diversity overall, prior work has found a strong population-level association between variation at a specific extended genomic region (supergene), cold tolerance, and sea surface temperature. We conducted a series of three experiments using righting response to characterize sublethal thermal tolerance and plasticity in introduced green crab populations, then determined if these factors were associated with supergene genotype for individual adult crabs. Crabs showed signs of stress after exposure to a 30°C heat shock in one experiment. Interestingly, a second experiment exposing C. maenas to repeated 24-hour heat shocks showed that prior heat shock conferred beneficial plasticity during a subsequent event. The third experiment examined cold acclimation over multiple timepoints up to 94 hours. At 5°C, certain crabs exhibited an acclimatory response where righting slowed dramatically at first, and then gradually sped up after a longer period of cold exposure. Several crabs failed to right at 1.5°C, which could be indicative of dormancy employed to reduce energy consumption in colder conditions. There were no significant relationships between individual plasticity and supergene genotype in any experiment. Linking population-level genetic associations with individual-level physiology is complex, and reflects the impact of environmental conditions such as temperature throughout life history in shaping adult phenotype. Our results highlight the robust thermal tolerance and plasticity that adult green crabs maintain despite a substantial reduction in genetic diversity, and underscore the importance of probing population-level genotype-phenotype associations at the individual level.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144651270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An exploratory look at functional responses to a second antigen injection in a freshwater turtle.","authors":"Jennifer Terry, Isabella V Davis, Virginie Rolland, Lorin A Neuman-Lee","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf132","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Existing and emerging diseases threaten wildlife populations worldwide and population resilience in the face of disease depends on immune responses. To apply conservation strategies to populations threatened by disease, it is critical to know not only how individuals will respond to the initial exposure of the pathogen but also to determine risks when the pathogen becomes endemic or is reintroduced. Immune responses following a subsequent exposure to a pathogen may vary from initial responses due to several immunological memory mechanisms such as adaptive immune function and innate immune priming/training and tolerance. Alternatively, immune responses may vary as a consequence of resource limitation. Regardless of outcome, these altered responses could impact how individuals respond to successive pathogen exposures in their environment. Disease threatens reptiles worldwide but research on reptilian immunology has lagged behind other taxonomic groups, resulting in large gaps in our understanding of both mechanistic and functional immune responses. Reptiles possess traditionally considered \"innate\" and \"adaptive\" immune components, but current literature seems to agree that reptiles depend largely on innate immune components as adaptive responses are slow. We present an exploratory study in which we measured functional immune responses in male red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) to 2 antigen injections representing bacterial (lipopolysaccharide; LPS), viral (polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid; poly(I: C), fungal infections (zymosan), and control (saline), administered 2 weeks apart. We separated serum and buffy layer (serum + BL) from blood samples and manipulated the serum + BL (fresh, frozen, frozen + heat) to systematically inactivate immune components. We conducted microbial killing assays using the manipulated serum + BL with Gram-negative Escherichia coli, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, and the diploid yeast Candida albicans, which allowed us to examine immune responses across various contexts. Although sample sizes were small, we observed varied responses across treatments and serum + BL/microbe assay combinations, suggesting that several mechanisms of immune memory may have occurred after the first treatment injection. Given the time frame of our exploratory study and previous research on acquired antibody production timing in reptiles, we suggest that our observations may be products of immune training/priming, tolerance, and resource reallocation. However, more work is necessary to examine these processes in reptiles and we make suggestions for future research directions. Our work further demonstrates the role that diverse immunological tools have in understanding immune strategies across taxa to enhance our knowledge of reptilian immunology and inform conservation decisions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144644186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conducting impactful research at primarily undergraduate institutions.","authors":"Elizabeth A Addis, Carolyn M Bauer, Rachelle M Belanger, Michael W Butler, David C Collar, Findley Finseth, Megan D Gall, Eric J Gangloff, Michele A Johnson, Sharon E Lynn, Jenna A Monroy, E Misty Paig-Tran, Gregory M Pask, Tessa K Solomon-Lane, Zachary R Stahlschmidt, Nancy L Staub, Joseph T Thompson, Jerry F Husak","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf101","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) are significant academic employers of Ph.D. recipients. Even though the focus of PUIs is undergraduate education, many Ph.D. faculty who teach at these institutions are research active and conduct impactful work. Unfortunately, it has been our experience that many at funding agencies and research-intensive institutions hold the view that this is not the case. In this piece, sixteen faculty members share their experiences and approaches to conducting research at PUIs.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144638744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanical Design in Tube Feet.","authors":"Olaf Ellers, Matthew J McHenry, Amy S Johnson","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hydrostatic skeletons enable the transmission of mechanical work through a soft body. Despite the ubiquity of these structures among animals, we have a relatively rudimentary understanding of how they operate mechanically. Here we consider a mathematical model of the mechanics of a relatively tractable hydrostatic skeleton, the tube feet of sea stars. Tube feet drive locomotion by generating a pushing force against the environment. This pushing force is created by transmission of pressure from one chamber, the ampulla, to another, the stem, which extends from the oral surface of the body. This system operates as a compound machine with a mechanical advantage (MA, the ratio of output to input force) that varies with the geometry of its two chambers. We present an analytical approach for parameterizing the model from morphometric measurements and predictions for representative morphologies. Our analysis predicts that MA initially increases as the stem extends, but collapses to zero near maximum extension. The decrease in force output occurs because the angle of cross-helical fiber winding in the stem approaches the critical point of 54.7○, an angle at which the force components exactly balance the hoop and longitudinal forces from pressure. Though producing no axial force at full extension, a bent tube foot can still generate perpendicular forces that generate torque to lift and propel the body as the degree of bend changes, a proposition that is supported by kinematic observations of the tube feet. These results provide a framework for understanding tube foot mechanics across echinoderms and highlight the functional significance of helical fiber arrangements in hydrostatic skeletons.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144638745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the impact of nipple design on tongue function in infant feeding using a dynamic endocast.","authors":"Elska B Kaczmarek, Hannah E Shideler, Skyler M Wallace, Dylan J Anderson, Emily C Volpe, Maressa E Kennedy, Harlow I Smith, Ani E Smith, Thomas H Stroud, Christopher J Mayerl","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf130","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The mammalian tongue is a muscular hydrostat composed of multiple muscles, each with complex fiber architecture and small motor units. This allows it to move and deform in three dimensions (3D) to function in several complex behaviors, including suckling. The ability of infant mammals to successfully suckle is dependent on these variable deformations, as the tongue must perform multiple functions simultaneously. The lateral margins of the tongue curl to seal around a nipple, while the middle of the tongue moves in an anteroposterior wave to suck milk into the mouth, transport it posteriorly, and swallow it. The kinematics, mechanics, and coordination of the tongue during suckling are impacted by nipple properties, as evidenced by differences between feeding from nipples with narrow ducts (e.g., breastfeeding) and nipples that are hollow cisterns (e.g., bottle feeding). These structural differences result in different feeding outcomes, yet their effect on tongue function and kinematics is poorly understood. In addition, despite the 3D shape of the tongue during suckling, measurements of tongue movement have been limited to motion along the midsagittal plane and have not assessed suck volume. To evaluate how tongue function differs between ducted and cisternic nipples, we used X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology (XROMM) and a dynamic endocast, synchronized with intraoral suction, to quantify 3D tongue kinematics and suck volume. We found that pigs generated less suction but had greater suck volumes when they fed on cisternic nipples compared to ducted nipples. This is likely because the pigs compressed the cisternic nipple to express milk, resulting in higher flow, which we hypothesize slowed the accumulation of suction and permitted the tongue to achieve a larger suck volume. These results suggest that nipple design impacts the relationship between fluid dynamics and tongue function during feeding. In addition, we found that infants moved the surface of their tongue ventrally and posteriorly throughout the suck, but they did not increase the width of the suck volume. The use of a digital endocast to measure suck volume represents an important advance in our ability to evaluate the mechanics of feeding and could be used in the future to understand the relationships between tongue function and performance as infants mature, as well as in a comparative framework.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144621147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Bioinspiration Feedback Loop: an interdisciplinary exchange of processes and progress between biologists and engineers.","authors":"Cassandra M Donatelli, Megan Vandenberg, Lorenzo Martinez, Andrew K Schulz, E W Misty Paig-Tran, Karly E Cohen","doi":"10.1093/icb/icaf128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf128","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nature is an unparalleled innovator, coming up with countless solutions over millions of years. From the microscopic structures of gecko feet that enable effortless climbing to the hydrodynamic efficiency of fish armor, biological systems have evolved to solve a myriad of complex challenges. Engineers have long drawn inspiration from these natural innovations, translating biological principles into new technologies. The process is rarely straightforward-biological structures evolve under constraints and trade-offs, often leading to multifunctional designs that do not conform to traditional engineering approaches. Here, we explore the dynamic exchange between biology and engineering, highlighting how bioinspired design not only informs new technologies but also deepens our understanding of living systems. Bioinspired design plays a crucial role in materials science, robotics, and biomedical sciences, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. Existing partnerships between biologists and engineers has led to advances in adhesives, protective materials, filtration systems, and dynamic structural designs. Translating biological complexity into engineered simplicity can be challenging; we need open communication between fields to share methodologies, resources, and discoveries. By fostering a continuous feedback loop between biology and engineering, we can push the boundaries of innovation and discovery, ensuring that bioinspired design remains a driving force in scientific and technological advancement.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144602291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}