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Secret to Hummingbirds hovering discovered

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  • Secret to Hummingbirds hovering discovered

    New research suggests that the hummingbird's ability to hover is due to the loss of a gene. I wonder if the Hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), a moth so-named for its nearly-identical hovering ability, has a similar cause for their ability.

    Source: Study finds hummingbirds' hovering flight likely evolved because of a lost gene


    Hummingbirds, native to North and South America, are among the smallest and most agile birds in the world. Often barely larger than a thumb, they are the only bird species that can fly not only forwards, but also backwards or sideways. Their characteristic hovering flight makes that possible.

    However, hovering is extremely energy-demanding. In a genomic study published in the journal Science, an international team of scientists led by Prof. Michael Hiller at the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG) in Frankfurt, Germany, has investigated the evolutionary adaptations of the metabolism that may have enabled the hummingbirds' unique flying abilities.

    During hovering, hummingbirds flap their wings up to 80 times per second, creating the characteristic humming sound. No other form of locomotion in the animal kingdom consumes more energy. Accordingly, their metabolism runs at full speed and is more active than that of any other vertebrate. To meet their energy needs, hummingbirds rely on the sugar in flower nectar. Hummingbirds' metabolism also has some distinctive features: They absorb sugar quickly, have highly active enzymes that process sugars, and can metabolize fructose just as efficiently as glucose—unlike, for example, humans.

    Researchers from Frankfurt and Dresden have now discovered how this benefits the cells of the flight muscles that allow hummingbirds to hover. In their study, they sequenced the genome of the long-tailed hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus) and compared this and other hummingbird genomes with the genomes of 45 other birds, such as chicken, pigeon, or eagle.

    They discovered that the gene encoding the muscle enzyme FBP2 (fructose bisphosphatase 2) was lost in all studied hummingbirds. Interestingly, further investigations showed that this gene had already been lost in the common ancestor of all living hummingbirds, during a period when hovering flight and nectar feeding evolved—around 48 to 30 million years ago.

    "Our experiments showed that the targeted inactivation of the FBP2 gene in muscle cells enhances sugar metabolism. Furthermore, the number and activity of the energy-producing mitochondria increases in cells lacking FBP2. All this has already been observed in the flight muscles of hummingbirds," explains first author Dr. Ekaterina Osipova, currently a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and previously a scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden and the LOEWE-TBG in Frankfurt.

    "Since the FBP2 gene is only expressed in muscle cells, our results suggest that the loss of this gene in the hummingbird ancestor was likely a key step in the evolution of metabolic muscle adaptations required for hovering flight," adds study leader Michael Hiller, Professor of Comparative Genomics at the LOEWE-TBG and the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research.

    In addition to the loss of the FBP2 gene, other important genomic changes probably occurred in hummingbirds. Several other genes that play important roles in sugar metabolism exhibit amino acid changes in hummingbirds, likely because of directed selection. "The relevance of changes in these genes for evolutionary adaptations in hummingbird metabolism needs to be clarified by further studies and experiments," Hiller said.


    Source

    © Copyright Original Source



    The full paper is Loss of a gluconeogenic muscle enzyme contributed to adaptive metabolic traits in hummingbirds from which I made the abstract available here

    Loss leads to gain

    Hummingbirds display true hovering flight, an incredibly energy-intensive activity. Although much is known about the physiology of this movement, little has been known about the genetics underlying its evolution. Osipova et al. screened newly generated and previously sequenced bird genomes to search for key changes facilitating this high-energy locomotion. They found that a gluconeogenic muscle enzyme, FBP2, was lost as hovering flight evolved. Knockouts of this gene in avian cell lines led to an increase in glycolysis, mitochondria production, and mitochondrial respiration, all leading to higher energy efficiency. These results also illustrate how the loss of a gene can be adaptive. —SNV

    Abstract

    Hummingbirds possess distinct metabolic adaptations to fuel their energy-demanding hovering flight, but the underlying genomic changes are largely unknown. Here, we generated a chromosome-level genome assembly of the long-tailed hermit and screened for genes that have been specifically inactivated in the ancestral hummingbird lineage. We discovered that FBP2 (fructose-bisphosphatase 2), which encodes a gluconeogenic muscle enzyme, was lost during a time period when hovering flight evolved. We show that FBP2 knockdown in an avian muscle cell line up-regulates glycolysis and enhances mitochondrial respiration, coincident with an increased mitochondria number. Furthermore, genes involved in mitochondrial respiration and organization have up-regulated expression in hummingbird flight muscle. Together, these results suggest that FBP2 loss was likely a key step in the evolution of metabolic muscle adaptations required for true hovering flight.


    I'm always still in trouble again

    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

  • #2
    Originally posted by rogue06 View Post

    Study finds hummingbirds' hovering flight likely evolved because of a lost gene]
    Hummingbirds, native to North and South America, are among the smallest and most agile birds in the world. Often barely larger than a thumb, they are the only bird species that can fly not only forwards, but also backwards or sideways. Their characteristic hovering flight makes that possible.
    Nope. I've seen a mudlark fly backwards a couple of times (though he was looking over his shoulder on the second occasion), and a carrier pigeon, though with decidedly less skill. It seems possible that any bird that can slow down by back-winging should be capable of flying backwards (which back winging essentially does), though they would almost always choose not to.


    1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
    .
    ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
    Scripture before Tradition:
    but that won't prevent others from
    taking it upon themselves to deprive you
    of the right to call yourself Christian.

    ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

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    • #3
      They absorb sugar quickly, have highly active enzymes that process sugars, and can metabolize fructose just as efficiently as glucose—unlike, for example, humans

      So the secret is how fast they burn sugars?

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Machinist View Post


        So the secret is how fast they burn sugars?
        They need massive amounts of energy and this provides it.

        I'm always still in trouble again

        "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
        "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
        "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
          They need massive amounts of energy and this provides it.
          Where/How is it stored?

          If humans were to be able to burn sugars as fast as hummingbirds, what capability would we have?

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Machinist View Post

            Where/How is it stored?

            If humans were to be able to burn sugars as fast as hummingbirds, what capability would we have?
            We might be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Stoic View Post

              We might be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...

              Seems more likely that the human would suffer pretty much the same as getting a massive insulin overdose, or that the digestive system and diet would need to change so that the person could live on sugar cane or similar plants, and in large quantities.
              1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
              .
              ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
              Scripture before Tradition:
              but that won't prevent others from
              taking it upon themselves to deprive you
              of the right to call yourself Christian.

              ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Stoic View Post

                We might be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...

                Or act like someone with cocaine jitters.

                I'm always still in trouble again

                "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                  Or act like someone with cocaine jitters.
                  Hummingbirds do not act like they have the jitters. They seem chill, though a bit zippy.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Where's Lee claiming Behe was right and evolution only works by breaking genes? It's almost like something feels wrong without his trolling here.
                    "Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from trolling."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by TheLurch View Post
                      Where's Lee claiming Behe was right and evolution only works by breaking genes? It's almost like something feels wrong without his trolling here.
                      I knew that something was missing.
                      1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
                      .
                      ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
                      Scripture before Tradition:
                      but that won't prevent others from
                      taking it upon themselves to deprive you
                      of the right to call yourself Christian.

                      ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by TheLurch View Post
                        Where's Lee claiming Behe was right and evolution only works by breaking genes? It's almost like something feels wrong without his trolling here.
                        I have to confess I was wondering how he'd respond when I posted this.

                        I'm always still in trouble again

                        "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                        "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                        "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                        Comment

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