Phenotypic plasticity of muscle

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Adaptability is a fundamental attribute of life. Phenotypic plasticity facilitates individual survival whereas evolutionary adaptations increase a species' survival in a given environment. Tissues that produce or undergo mechanical stress, such as skeletal muscle, show a particularly high degree of adaptability, on evolutionary and phenotypic levels. As skeletal muscle has two major roles, that of the motor for movement and that of major reserve of protein and carbohydrate, its adaptive responses must reflect both roles. The underlying premise of my research program is that functional capacities of muscle are set by the compromise between the needs of locomotion, reproduction and survival under changing environmental conditions. We study fish and scallops as their thermal equilibration with the medium, their extensive investment in reproduction, the separation of skeletal muscle fibre types and their stereotypic swimming patterns facilitate identification of fibre specific responses and of their links to locomotor capacities. Our previous research identified phospholipid changes as central in modifications of mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Our proposed research will 1) use diet to change phospholipid composition in trout and scallops to explore the functional roles of the fine structure of mitochondrial phospholipids; 2) evaluate the impact of size and diet on escape response performance and muscle metabolic capacities in scallops and 3) determine whether changes in the use and metabolic design of the adductor muscle accompany the marked shifts in shell morphology between athletic and more sedentary scallops.