Evolution of energetics in flying insects

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Energy metabolism is central to all biological functions. In animals, the physiology and biochemistry involved in energy metabolism is based on a conserved blueprint which is adjusted to serve different functions (e.g. among tissues) and wide-ranging performances (e.g. locomotion). I am interested in how physiological systems and biochemical pathways involved in energetics vary among individuals and how they change over evolutionary time to generate the diversity observed in animal performance. To address these questions, I study the energetics of flight in insects. Insect flight is a good model to study energy metabolism because flight performance varies widely across species and it is the most expensive activity performed by animals. In bees and wasps, the energy requirements of flight muscle cells vary several-fold across species; nevertheless, we do not know the underlying mechanisms that explain this variation. Using various approaches developed to integrate the fields of physiology and evolution, I investigate how characteristics of a species and an individual determine the energy requirements for flight. I also study how insects can adjust to conditions increasing energy demand for flight. Another major component of my work studies the cellular basis of energetics, their metabolism. Variation in cellular energy production involves adjusting metabolic pathways by changing the properties or quantities of the enzymes that form the pathways. Animals can also use different fuels to power muscles. Other properties of muscle cells are adjusted with the intensity of flight, such as cell membranes. The implications of this work are fundamental to our understanding of diversity in animal energetics and how it evolves to face new challenges. My research provides information on flight performance of pollinators and the variables affecting it. Knowing the fundamentals of normal metabolism and energetics provides the basis to detect changes due to environmental or human factors that can affect bee health.