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Song F, Yan Y, Sun J. Energy consumption during insect flight and bioinspiration for MAV design: A review. Comput Biol Med 2024; 170:108092. [PMID: 38325218 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.108092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
The excellent biological characteristics of insects provide an important source of inspiration for designing micro air vehicles (MAVs). Insect flight is an incredibly complex and energy-intensive process. Unique insect flight muscles and contraction mechanisms enable flapping at high frequencies. Moreover, the metabolic rate during flight can reach hundreds of times the resting state. Understanding energy consumption during flight is crucial for designing efficient biomimetic aircraft. This paper summarizes the structures and contraction mechanisms of insect flight muscles, explores the underlying metabolic processes, and identifies methods for energy substrate identification and detection, and discusses inspiration for biomimetic MAV design. This paper reviews energy consumption during insect flight, promotes the understanding of insect bioenergetics, and applies this information to the design of MAVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fa Song
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education, China), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022, PR China
| | - Yongwei Yan
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education, China), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022, PR China
| | - Jiyu Sun
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education, China), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022, PR China.
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Fu Y, Wu T, Yu H, Xu J, Zhang JZ, Fu DY, Ye H. The Transcription of Flight Energy Metabolism Enzymes Declined with Aging While Enzyme Activity Increased in the Long-Distance Migratory Moth, Spodoptera frugiperda. INSECTS 2022; 13:936. [PMID: 36292884 PMCID: PMC9604208 DOI: 10.3390/insects13100936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Of all the things that can fly, the flight mechanisms of insects are possibly the least understood. By using RNAseq, we studied the aging-associated gene expression changes in the thorax of Spodoptera frugiperda females. Three possible flight energy metabolism pathways were constructed based on 32 key metabolic enzymes found in S. frugiperda. Differential expression analysis revealed up to 2000 DEGs within old females versus young ones. Expression and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that most genes and pathways related to energy metabolism and other biological processes, such as transport, redox, longevity and signaling pathway, were downregulated with aging. However, activity assay showed that the activities of all the five tested key enzymes increased with age. The age-associated transcriptional decrease and activity increase in these enzymes suggest that these enzymes are stable. S. frugiperda is a long-distance migrator, and a high activity of enzymes may be important to guarantee a high flight capacity. The activity ratio of GAPDH/HOAD ranged from 0.594 to 0.412, suggesting that lipid is the main fuel of this species, particularly in old individuals. Moreover, the expression of enzymes in the proline oxidation pathway increased with age, suggesting that this energy metabolic pathway also is important for this species or linked to some aging-specific processes. In addition, the expression of immunity- and repair-related genes also increased with age. This study established the overall transcriptome framework of the flight muscle and aging-associated expression change trajectories in an insect for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Fu
- Yunnan Academy of Biodiversity, School of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Ting Wu
- Yunnan Academy of Biodiversity, School of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Hong Yu
- Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Jin Xu
- Yunnan Academy of Biodiversity, School of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
- Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Jun-Zhong Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Da-Ying Fu
- Yunnan Academy of Biodiversity, School of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Hui Ye
- School of Ecology and Environment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
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