The ultrastructure of locust pleuroaxillary “steering” muscles in comparison to other skeletal muscles

Effect of the Insecticide Dinotefuran on the Ultrastructure of the Flight Muscle of Female Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

Sogatella furcifera Horváth (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), is a major migratory pest of rice crops in Asia. The ultrastructure of the flight muscle directly affects the flight ability of insects. The ultrastructure of the flight muscle of some insects can be affected by insecticides. However, the ultrastructure of the flight muscle of S. furcifera and the effect of insecticides on the flight muscle of S. furcifera are not well understood. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of the insecticide dinotefuran on the ultrastructure of the flight muscle of S. furcifera females. In this study, the cross-sectional area and the diameter of the myofibril cross-sections of dinotefuran-treated S. furcifera females increased with the number of days after emergence (DAE), and they were higher than in untreated females. The sarcomere length of myofibrils increased with the number of DAE, and it differed from that of the untreated females. On the first day after emergence, the higher the concentration of dinotefuran, the smaller was the extent of decrease. On the third day after emergence, the higher the concentration of dinotefuran, the larger was the extent of enhancement. For the percentage of mitochondria, those of LC10 and LC20 dinotefuran-treated S. furcifera females increased with the number of DAE and were higher than in untreated females. LC10 dinotefuran-treated S. furcifera females exhibited the largest increase. Thus, our results suggest that the flight ability of S. furcifera increased with time. Some concentrations of dinotefuran can enhance the flight capacity of S. furcifera.

Alternative exon-encoding regions of Locusta migratoria muscle myosin modulate the pH dependence of ATPase activity

Whereas the vertebrate muscle myosin heavy chains (MHCs) are encoded by a family of Mhc genes, most insects examined to date contain a single Mhc gene and produce all of the different MHC isoforms by alternative RNA splicing. Here, we found that the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, has one Mhc gene, which contains 41 exons, including five alternative exclusive exons and one differently included penultimate exon, and potentially encodes 360 MHC isoforms. From the adult L. migratoria, we identified 14 MHC isoforms (including two identical isoforms): four from flight muscle (the thorax dorsal longitudinal muscle), three from jump muscle (the hind leg extensor tibiae muscle) and seven from the abdominal intersegmental muscle. We purified myosins from flight muscle and jump muscle and characterized their motor activities. At neutral pH, the flight and the jump muscle myosins displayed similar levels of in vitro actin-gliding activity, whereas the former had a slightly higher actin-activated ATPase activity than the latter. Interestingly, the pH dependences of the actin-activated ATPase activity of these two myosins are different. Because the dominant MHC isoforms in these two muscles are identical except for the two alternative exon-encoding regions, we propose that these two alternative regions modulate the pH dependence of L. migratoria muscle myosin.

Slowly contracting muscles power the rapid jumping of planthopper insects (Hemiptera, Issidae)

The planthopper insect Issus produces one of the fastest and most powerful jumps of any insect. The jump is powered by large muscles that are found in its thorax and that, in other insects, contribute to both flying and walking movements. These muscles were therefore analysed by transmission electron microscopy to determine whether they have the properties of fast-acting muscle used in flying or those of more slowly acting muscle used in walking. The muscle fibres are arranged in a parallel bundle that inserts onto an umbrella-shaped tendon. The individual fibres have a diameter of about 70 μm and are subdivided into myofibrils a few micrometres in diameter. No variation in ultrastructure was observed in various fibres taken from different parts of the muscle. The sarcomeres are about 15 μm long and the A bands about 10 μm long. The Z lines are poorly aligned within a myofibril. Mitochondrial profiles are sparse and are close to the Z lines. Each thick filament is surrounded by 10-12 thin filaments and the registration of these arrays of filaments is irregular. Synaptic boutons from the two excitatory motor neurons to the muscle fibres are characterised by accumulations of ~60 translucent 40-nm-diameter vesicle profiles per section, corresponding to an estimated 220 vesicles, within a 0.5-μm hemisphere at a presynaptic density. All ultrastructural features conform to those of slow muscle and thus suggest that the muscle is capable of slow sustained contractions in keeping with its known actions during jumping. A fast and powerful movement is thus generated by a slow muscle.

Dynamic neural control of insect muscle metabolism related to motor behavior

Skeletal muscle innervation differs between vertebrates and insects. Insect muscle fibers exhibit graded electrical potentials and are innervated by excitatory, inhibitory, and also neuromodulatory motoneurons. The latter form a unique class of unpaired neurons with bilaterally symmetrical axons that release octopamine to alter the efficacy of synaptic transmission and regulate muscle energy metabolism by activating glycolysis. Octopaminergic neurons that innervate muscles with a high energy demand, for example, flight muscles that move the wings of a locust up and down, are active during rest but are inhibited during flight and its preparatory phase, a jump. Therefore, it is argued that these neurons are involved in providing locusts with the necessary fuel at takeoff, but then may aid the switch to lipid oxidation during flight. In general, the octopaminergic system may switch the whole organism from a tonic to a dynamic state.

Symmorphosis and the insect respiratory system: a comparison between flight and hopping muscle

Weibel and Taylor's theory of symmorphosis predicts that the structural components of the respiratory system are quantitatively adjusted to satisfy, but not exceed, an animal's maximum requirement for oxygen. We test this in the respiratory system of the adult migratory locust Locusta migratoria by comparing the aerobic capacity of hopping and flight muscle with the morphology of the oxygen cascade. Maximum oxygen uptake by flight muscle during tethered-flight is 967 ± 76 μmol h-1 g-1 (body mass-specific, ± 95% CI), whereas the hopping muscles consume a maximum of 158 ± 8 during jumping. The 6.1-fold difference in aerobic capacity between the two muscles is matched by a 6.4-fold difference in tracheole lumen volume, which is 3.5×108 ± 1.2×108 μm3 g-1 in flight muscle and 5.5×107 ± 1.8×107 in the hopping muscles, a 6.4-fold difference in tracheole inner cuticle surface area, which is 3.2×109 ± 1.1×109 μm2 g-1 in flight muscle and 5.0×108 ± 1.7×108 in the hopping muscles, and a 6.8-fold difference in tracheole radial diffusing capacity, which is 113 ± 47 μmol kPa-1 h-1 g-1 in flight muscle and 16.7 ± 6.5 in the hopping muscles. However, there is little congruence between the 6.1-fold difference in aerobic capacity and the 19.8-fold difference in mitochondrial volume, which is 3.2×1010 ± 3.9×109 μm3 g-1 in flight muscle and only 1.6×109 ± 1.4×108 in the hopping muscles. Therefore, symmorphosis is upheld in the design of the tracheal system, but not in relation to the amount of mitochondria, which might be due to other factors operating on the molecular level.

Symmorphosis and the insect respiratory system: allometric variation

Taylor and Weibel's theory of symmorphosis predicts that structures of the respiratory system are matched to maximum functional requirements with minimal excess capacity. We tested this hypothesis in the respiratory system of the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, by comparing the aerobic capacity of the jumping muscles with the morphology of the oxygen cascade in the hopping legs using an intraspecific allometric analysis of different body mass (Mb) at selected juvenile life stages. The maximum oxygen consumption rate of the hopping muscle during jumping exercise scales as Mb1.02±0.02, which parallels the scaling of mitochondrial volume in the hopping muscle, Mb1.02±0.08, and the total surface area of inner mitochondrial membrane, Mb0.99±0.10. Likewise, at the oxygen supply end of the insect respiratory system, there is congruence between the aerobic capacity of the hopping muscle and the total volume of tracheoles in the hopping muscle, Mb0.99±0.16, the total inner surface area of the tracheoles, Mb0.99±0.16, and the anatomical radial diffusing capacity of the tracheoles, Mb0.99±0.18. Therefore, the principles of symmorphosis are upheld at each step of the oxygen cascade in the respiratory system of the migratory locust.

Moulting of insect tracheae captured by light and electron-microscopy in the metathoracic femur of a third instar locust Locusta migratoria

The insect tracheal system is an air-filled branching network of internal tubing that functions to exchange respiratory gases between the tissues and the environment. The light and electron-micrographs presented in this study show tracheae in the process of moulting, captured from the metathoracic hopping femur of a juvenile third instar locust (Locusta migratoria). The images provide evidence for the detachment of the cuticular intima from the tracheal epithelial cells, the presence of moulting fluid between the new and old cuticle layers, and the withdrawal of the shed cuticular lining through larger upstream regions of the tracheal system during moulting. The micrographs also reveal that the cuticular intima of the fine terminal branches of the tracheal system is cast at ecdysis. Therefore, the hypothesis that tracheoles retain their cuticle lining at each moult may not apply to all insect species or developmental stages.

Allatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the abdomen of the locust Schistocerca gregaria

A polyclonal antibody against allatostatin 1 (AST-1) of cockroach Diploptera punctata was used to investigate the distribution of AST-like immunoreactivity within the abdomen of the locust, Schistocerca gregaria. In the abdominal ganglia, AST-like immunoreactivity was found in both cell bodies and neuropile. In ganglia 6 and 7, staining was found in serial homologous cell bodies in anterior dorsolateral and dorsomedial, and posterior ventrolateral and ventromedial locations. In the terminal ganglion, the numerous immunoreactive somata were smaller in size than those in the unfused ganglia. The combination of backfill experiments with immunocytochemistry showed that, in abdominal ganglion 7, one neuron of the ventromedian cell body cluster and two of the ventrolateral cluster innervated the oviduct, which itself was covered with a dense mesh of AST-immunoreactive varicosities. Combining electron microscopy with immunohistochemistry revealed AST-like immunoreactivity in dense-core vesicles located in neurohaemal-like terminals lacking structures normally found in synapses. A mesh of AST-immunoreactive varicosities was also found on the muscles of the spermatheca and the spermathecal duct. In addition, a mesh of strongly stained varicosities was present in the distal perisympathetic organs (neurohaemal organs in the abdomen) and on the lateral heart nerves (a putative neurohaemal release zone). These data indicate that AST is an important neuroactive substance that is probably involved in multiple tasks in the control of the locust abdomen.