Respiratory gas levels interact to control ventilatory motor patterns in isolated locust ganglia

PO2 of the metathoracic ganglion in response to progressive hypoxia in an insect

Mammals regulate their brain tissue P_O2 tightly, and only small changes in brain P_O2 are required to elicit compensatory ventilation. However, unlike the flow-through cardiovascular system of vertebrates, insect tissues exchange gases through blind-ended tracheoles, which may involve a more prominent role for diffusive gas exchange. We tested the effect of progressive hypoxia on ventilation and the P_O2 of the metathoracic ganglion (neural site of control of ventilation) using microelectrodes in the American locust, Schistocerca americana. In normal air (21 kPa), P_O2 of the metathoracic ganglion was 12 kPa. The P_O2 of the ganglion dropped as air P_O2 dropped, with ventilatory responses occurring when ganglion P_O2 reached 3 kPa. Unlike vertebrates, insects tolerate relatively high resting tissue P_O2 levels and allow tissue P_O2 to drop during hypoxia, activity and discontinuous gas exchange before activating convective or spiracular gas exchange. Tracheated animals, and possibly pancrustaceans in general, seem likely to generally experience wide spatial and temporal variation in tissue P_O2 compared with vertebrates, with important implications for physiological function and the evolution of oxygen-using proteins.