Dissertation Research: Mechanisms and Significance of Ontogenetic Changes in Respiratory Function During Insect Locomotion

论文研究：昆虫运动中呼吸功能个体发育变化的机制和意义乔恩·哈里森和斯科特·柯克顿这项研究的目的是研究身体大小如何影响活跃昆虫的呼吸生理。初步结果显示，体型较大/年龄较大的蝗虫在反复跳跃时疲劳更快，这表明肌肉的氧气输送可能存在问题。该项目利用美洲血吸虫(Schistocerca Americana)来确定呼吸系统和跳跃肌肉在发育过程中如何随着身体大小的变化而发生结构变化。气管结构将使用光学和电子显微镜进行测量，而腿部肌肉的代谢生化将使用酶分析进行测量。跳跃过程中消耗的氧气量将使用流通式呼吸仪测量整个动物，腿部肌肉的氧气水平将使用电子顺磁共振进行测量。该项目的结果将有助于理解身体大小和气管功能之间的一般关系，并为古生代巨型昆虫可能是由于大气氧气水平增加而产生的假设提供了检验。

Dissertation Research: Mechanisms and Significance of Ontogenetic Changes in Respiratory Function During Insect LocomotionJon Harrison and Scott Kirkton The goal of this research is to examine how body size affects the respiratory physiology of active insects. Initial results show that larger/older grasshoppers fatigue quicker during repeated jumping, which suggests possible problems with oxygen delivery to the muscle. This project utilizes American locusts (Schistocerca americana) to determine how structural changes in both the respiratory tracheal system and the jumping muscle vary with body size during development. The tracheal structure will be measured using light and electron microscopy, while the leg muscle metabolic biochemistry will be measured using enzymatic assays. The amount of oxygen consumed during jumping will be measured for the whole animal using flow-through respirometry and leg muscle oxygen levels will be measured with electron paramagnetic resonance. The results of this project will help understand the general relationship between body size and tracheal function and provide a test of the hypothesis that gigantic insects of the Paleozoic Era were made possible by increased atmospheric oxygen levels.