Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>
Similar to humans, insects lose their physical and physiological capacities with age, which makes them a convenient study system for human ageing. Although insects have an efficient oxygen-transport system, we know little about how their flight capacity changes with age and environmental oxygen cond...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/4/327 |
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| author | Valeriya Privalova Ewa Szlachcic Łukasz Sobczyk Natalia Szabla Marcin Czarnoleski |
| author_facet | Valeriya Privalova Ewa Szlachcic Łukasz Sobczyk Natalia Szabla Marcin Czarnoleski |
| author_sort | Valeriya Privalova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Similar to humans, insects lose their physical and physiological capacities with age, which makes them a convenient study system for human ageing. Although insects have an efficient oxygen-transport system, we know little about how their flight capacity changes with age and environmental oxygen conditions. We measured two types of locomotor performance in ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> flies: the frequency of wing beats and the capacity to climb vertical surfaces. Flight performance was measured under normoxia and hypoxia. As anticipated, ageing flies showed systematic deterioration of climbing performance, and low oxygen impeded flight performance. Against predictions, flight performance did not deteriorate with age, and younger and older flies showed similar levels of tolerance to low oxygen during flight. We suggest that among different insect locomotory activities, flight performance deteriorates slowly with age, which is surprising, given that insect flight is one of the most energy-demanding activities in animals. Apparently, the superior capacity of insects to rapidly deliver oxygen to flight muscles remains little altered by ageing, but we showed that insects can become oxygen limited in habitats with a poor oxygen supply (e.g., those at high elevations) during highly oxygen-demanding activities such as flight. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:20:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-477b3c0346e645ae9113b851514570e0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:20:09Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-477b3c0346e645ae9113b851514570e02023-11-21T15:31:11ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372021-04-0110432710.3390/biology10040327Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>Valeriya Privalova0Ewa Szlachcic1Łukasz Sobczyk2Natalia Szabla3Marcin Czarnoleski4Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, PolandInstitute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, PolandInstitute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, PolandInstitute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, PolandInstitute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, PolandSimilar to humans, insects lose their physical and physiological capacities with age, which makes them a convenient study system for human ageing. Although insects have an efficient oxygen-transport system, we know little about how their flight capacity changes with age and environmental oxygen conditions. We measured two types of locomotor performance in ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> flies: the frequency of wing beats and the capacity to climb vertical surfaces. Flight performance was measured under normoxia and hypoxia. As anticipated, ageing flies showed systematic deterioration of climbing performance, and low oxygen impeded flight performance. Against predictions, flight performance did not deteriorate with age, and younger and older flies showed similar levels of tolerance to low oxygen during flight. We suggest that among different insect locomotory activities, flight performance deteriorates slowly with age, which is surprising, given that insect flight is one of the most energy-demanding activities in animals. Apparently, the superior capacity of insects to rapidly deliver oxygen to flight muscles remains little altered by ageing, but we showed that insects can become oxygen limited in habitats with a poor oxygen supply (e.g., those at high elevations) during highly oxygen-demanding activities such as flight.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/4/327ageingclimbinghypoxiainsectslocomotor activityoxygen limitation |
| spellingShingle | Valeriya Privalova Ewa Szlachcic Łukasz Sobczyk Natalia Szabla Marcin Czarnoleski Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> Biology ageing climbing hypoxia insects locomotor activity oxygen limitation |
| title | Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> |
| title_full | Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> |
| title_fullStr | Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> |
| title_short | Oxygen Dependence of Flight Performance in Ageing <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> |
| title_sort | oxygen dependence of flight performance in ageing i drosophila melanogaster i |
| topic | ageing climbing hypoxia insects locomotor activity oxygen limitation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/4/327 |
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