HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
X-ray images help explain limits to insect body size

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have cast new light on why the giant insects that lived millions of years ago disappeared.

In the late Paleozoic Era, with atmospheric oxygen levels reaching record highs, some insects evolved into giants. When oxygen levels returned to lower levels, the insect giants went extinct.

The basis of this gigantism is thought to lie in the insect respiratory system. In contrast to vertebrates, where blood transports oxygen from the lung to the cell, insects deliver oxygen directly through a network of blind-ending tracheal tubes. As insects get bigger, this type of oxygen transport becomes far less effective. But if the atmospheric oxygen levels increase, as they did in the late Paleozoic, then longer tracheal tubes can work. This would allow larger-sized insectseven giantsto evolve.

Recent research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science helps confirm the hypothesis that the tracheal system actually limits how big insects can be. The research provides a specific explanation for what limits size in beetles: the constriction leading to the legs.

A collaborative team of researchers from Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS), Midwestern University and Arizona State University wanted to study how beetles' tracheal systems change as their body sizes increase. The team took advantage of richly detailed X-ray images they produced at the APS to examine the dimensions of tracheal tubes in four beetle species, ranging in body mass by a factor of 1,000.

Overall, they found that larger beetle species devote a disproportionately greater fraction of their body to tracheal tubes than do smaller species.

The team focused in particular on the passageways that lead from the body core to the head and to the legs. They reasoned that these orifices may be bottlenecks for tracheal tubes, limiting how much oxygen can be delive
'"/>

Contact: Sylvia Carson
scarson@anl.gov
630-252-5510
DOE/Argonne National Laboratory
10-Aug-2007


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Worlds first X-ray free electron laser is on course to completion
2. Bones in motion: Brown scientists to create new 3-D X-ray system
3. Chest X-ray exposure may increase likelihood of breast cancer
4. X-rays good predictor of survival in avian flu patients
5. New and sharper X-rays of cells ribosome could lead to better antibiotics
6. Researchers debut new X-ray resources for studying molecules
7. X-rays have become laser-like
8. Powerful X-ray beams at Argonne, new electronic flight simulator
9. New system reduces risk of burns during interventional X-rays
10. MIT creates 3-D images of living cell
11. Satellite images reveal link between urban growth and changing rainfall patterns

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: ray images help explain limits insect body size

(Date:5/21/2013)... in the body, stem cells in the blood ... into mature immune cells that can fight off ... these cell populations, potentially leading to the development ... a team of researchers led by biologists at ... that, in mouse models, the molecule microRNA-146a (miR-146a) ...
(Date:5/21/2013)... method for delivering molecules into single, targeted cells ... technique could find applications in drug delivery, cell ... a technique used to deliver molecules into ... that are caused by exposing them to electric ... cell transfection. (Cell transfection is the introduction of ...
(Date:5/21/2013)... ARBORThe new University of Michigan Water Center today ... support Great Lakes restoration and protection efforts. , ... support diverse projects, including efforts to track the ... of techniques to control non-native weedy plant invasions; ... monitor fish responses to restoration activities. , The ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Keeping stem cells strong 2Single-cell transfection tool enables added control for biological studies 2U-M Water Center awards $570K in Great Lakes restoration grants 2U-M Water Center awards $570K in Great Lakes restoration grants 3U-M Water Center awards $570K in Great Lakes restoration grants 4
(Date:5/20/2013)... (PRWEB) May 21, 2013 Grace ... specializing in “game-changing” life science and health related private ... Dergham to its International Project Team. Dergham's expertise in ... greater multi-cultural depth to Grace Century as it continues ... globe. , Ms. Dergham holds both an under graduate ...
(Date:5/20/2013)... May 20, 2013  (PSHR) Pacific Shore Holdings, ... products across a broad range of product categories ... investor relations firm, BlueWater Advisory Group, to provide ... trading process, and to direct the company,s outreach ... Matthew Mills , Pacific ...
(Date:5/20/2013)... ROCKVILLE , Md. and BALTIMORE ... Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing ... to early-stage funding in Central Maryland ... Aiyar, Ph.D., M.B.A., as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) ... (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute ...
(Date:5/20/2013)... Interventional cardiologist Tony Farah, MD, and his colleagues ... Institute have helped pioneer many breakthroughs in the ... the past three decades, from new disease-fighting medications to ... stent implantation. , Today, AGH officials announced that the ... the study of a novel, first-of-its kind investigational device ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Dalia Dergham Joins Grace Century FZ LLC International Project Team 2Pacific Shore Holdings Retains Investor Relations Firm 2BioHealth Innovation, Inc. Names Ram Aiyar as Entrepreneur-in-Residence to NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 2BioHealth Innovation, Inc. Names Ram Aiyar as Entrepreneur-in-Residence to NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 3BioHealth Innovation, Inc. Names Ram Aiyar as Entrepreneur-in-Residence to NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 4Allegheny General Hospital Cardiovascular Institute Becomes Exclusive Pittsburgh Site for Study of Novel Coronary Artery Disease Device 2Allegheny General Hospital Cardiovascular Institute Becomes Exclusive Pittsburgh Site for Study of Novel Coronary Artery Disease Device 3Allegheny General Hospital Cardiovascular Institute Becomes Exclusive Pittsburgh Site for Study of Novel Coronary Artery Disease Device 4
Cached News: