1
|
Wagner H, Egelhaaf M, Carr C. Model organisms and systems in neuroethology: one hundred years of history and a look into the future. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024; 210:227-242. [PMID: 38227005 PMCID: PMC10995084 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01685-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
The Journal of Comparative Physiology lived up to its name in the last 100 years by including more than 1500 different taxa in almost 10,000 publications. Seventeen phyla of the animal kingdom were represented. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is the taxon with most publications, followed by locust (Locusta migratoria), crayfishes (Cambarus spp.), and fruitfly (Drosophila melanogaster). The representation of species in this journal in the past, thus, differs much from the 13 model systems as named by the National Institutes of Health (USA). We mention major accomplishments of research on species with specific adaptations, specialist animals, for example, the quantitative description of the processes underlying the axon potential in squid (Loligo forbesii) and the isolation of the first receptor channel in the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) and electric ray (Torpedo spp.). Future neuroethological work should make the recent genetic and technological developments available for specialist animals. There are many research questions left that may be answered with high yield in specialists and some questions that can only be answered in specialists. Moreover, the adaptations of animals that occupy specific ecological niches often lend themselves to biomimetic applications. We go into some depth in explaining our thoughts in the research of motion vision in insects, sound localization in barn owls, and electroreception in weakly electric fish.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hermann Wagner
- Institute of Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Martin Egelhaaf
- Department of Neurobiology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Catherine Carr
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Dunlap KD, Koukos HM, Chagnaud BP, Zakon HH, Bass AH. Vocal and Electric Fish: Revisiting a Comparison of Two Teleost Models in the Neuroethology of Social Behavior. Front Neural Circuits 2021; 15:713105. [PMID: 34489647 PMCID: PMC8418312 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2021.713105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The communication behaviors of vocal fish and electric fish are among the vertebrate social behaviors best understood at the level of neural circuits. Both forms of signaling rely on midbrain inputs to hindbrain pattern generators that activate peripheral effectors (sonic muscles and electrocytes) to produce pulsatile signals that are modulated by frequency/repetition rate, amplitude and call duration. To generate signals that vary by sex, male phenotype, and social context, these circuits are responsive to a wide range of hormones and neuromodulators acting on different timescales at multiple loci. Bass and Zakon (2005) reviewed the behavioral neuroendocrinology of these two teleost groups, comparing how the regulation of their communication systems have both converged and diverged during their parallel evolution. Here, we revisit this comparison and review the complementary developments over the past 16 years. We (a) summarize recent work that expands our knowledge of the neural circuits underlying these two communication systems, (b) review parallel studies on the action of neuromodulators (e.g., serotonin, AVT, melatonin), brain steroidogenesis (via aromatase), and social stimuli on the output of these circuits, (c) highlight recent transcriptomic studies that illustrate how contemporary molecular methods have elucidated the genetic regulation of social behavior in these fish, and (d) describe recent studies of mochokid catfish, which use both vocal and electric communication, and that use both vocal and electric communication and consider how these two systems are spliced together in the same species. Finally, we offer avenues for future research to further probe how similarities and differences between these two communication systems emerge over ontogeny and evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kent D Dunlap
- Department of Biology, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, United States
| | - Haley M Koukos
- Department of Biology, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, United States
| | - Boris P Chagnaud
- Institute of Biology, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Harold H Zakon
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.,Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
| | - Andrew H Bass
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Traniello IM, Robinson GE. Neural and Molecular Mechanisms of Biological Embedding of Social Interactions. Annu Rev Neurosci 2021; 44:109-128. [PMID: 34236891 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-092820-012959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Animals operate in complex environments, and salient social information is encoded in the nervous system and then processed to initiate adaptive behavior. This encoding involves biological embedding, the process by which social experience affects the brain to influence future behavior. Biological embedding is an important conceptual framework for understanding social decision-making in the brain, as it encompasses multiple levels of organization that regulate how information is encoded and used to modify behavior. The framework we emphasize here is that social stimuli provoke short-term changes in neural activity that lead to changes in gene expression on longer timescales. This process, simplified-neurons are for today and genes are for tomorrow-enables the assessment of the valence of a social interaction, an appropriate and rapid response, and subsequent modification of neural circuitry to change future behavioral inclinations in anticipation of environmental changes. We review recent research on the neural and molecular basis of biological embedding in the context of social interactions, with a special focus on the honeybee.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ian M Traniello
- Neuroscience Program and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA;
| | - Gene E Robinson
- Neuroscience Program and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA; .,Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
de Santana CD, Crampton WGR, Dillman CB, Frederico RG, Sabaj MH, Covain R, Ready J, Zuanon J, de Oliveira RR, Mendes-Júnior RN, Bastos DA, Teixeira TF, Mol J, Ohara W, Castro NCE, Peixoto LA, Nagamachi C, Sousa L, Montag LFA, Ribeiro F, Waddell JC, Piorsky NM, Vari RP, Wosiacki WB. Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator. Nat Commun 2019; 10:4000. [PMID: 31506444 PMCID: PMC6736962 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11690-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Is there only one electric eel species? For two and a half centuries since its description by Linnaeus, Electrophorus electricus has captivated humankind by its capacity to generate strong electric discharges. Despite the importance of Electrophorus in multiple fields of science, the possibility of additional species-level diversity in the genus, which could also reveal a hidden variety of substances and bioelectrogenic functions, has hitherto not been explored. Here, based on overwhelming patterns of genetic, morphological, and ecological data, we reject the hypothesis of a single species broadly distributed throughout Greater Amazonia. Our analyses readily identify three major lineages that diverged during the Miocene and Pliocene-two of which warrant recognition as new species. For one of the new species, we recorded a discharge of 860 V, well above 650 V previously cited for Electrophorus, making it the strongest living bioelectricity generator.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C David de Santana
- Division of Fishes, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, MCR 159, National Museum of Natural History, PO Box 37012, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, WA, 20013-7012, USA.
| | | | - Casey B Dillman
- Division of Fishes, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, MCR 159, National Museum of Natural History, PO Box 37012, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, WA, 20013-7012, USA.,Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA
| | - Renata G Frederico
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal do Pará, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Belém, Pará, Brazil.,Laboratório de ecologia de peixes, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerias, Institudo de Ciências Biológicas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Mark H Sabaj
- Department of Ichthyology, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, USA
| | - Raphaël Covain
- Muséum d'histoire naturelle, Département d'herpétologie et d'ichtyologie, route de Malagnou 1, case postale 6434, CH-1211, Genève 6, Switzerland
| | - Jonathan Ready
- Laboratório de Lepidopterologia e Ictiologia Integrada, Centro de Estudos Avançados da Biodiversidade, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Jansen Zuanon
- Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Renildo R de Oliveira
- Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Raimundo N Mendes-Júnior
- RESEX do Rio Cajari, Instituto Chico Mendes da Conservação da Biodiversidade, Macapá, Amapá, Brazil
| | - Douglas A Bastos
- Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Tulio F Teixeira
- Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Laboratório de Ictiologia, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia de Vertebrados, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Jan Mol
- Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname
| | - Willian Ohara
- Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Laboratório de Ictiologia, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Presidente Médice, Rondônia, Brazil
| | | | - Luiz A Peixoto
- Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Laboratório de Ictiologia, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Cleusa Nagamachi
- Laboratório de Citogenética, Centro de Estudos Avançados da Biodiversidade, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Leandro Sousa
- Laboratório de Ictiologia, Faculdade de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Altamira, Pará, Brazil
| | - Luciano F A Montag
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal do Pará, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Frank Ribeiro
- Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologia das Águas, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Campus Amazônia, Santarém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Joseph C Waddell
- Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA
| | - Nivaldo M Piorsky
- Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Departamento de Biologia, Laboratório de Ecologia e Sistemática de Peixes, São Luis, Maranhão, Brazil
| | - Richard P Vari
- Division of Fishes, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, MCR 159, National Museum of Natural History, PO Box 37012, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, WA, 20013-7012, USA
| | - Wolmar B Wosiacki
- Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Caixa Postal 399, 66040-170, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|