Functional morphology of the heart and of a new cephalic pulsatile organ in the blowfly Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and their roles in hemolymph transport and tracheal ventilation

Wasserthal, Lutz Thilo

doi:10.1016/s0020-7322(99)00012-4

Cited by 37 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Most authors attributed the higher pulse rate to the forward heartbeat (also 'anterograde' or 'fast phase') and the lower pulse rate to the backward heartbeat (also 'retrograde' or 'slow phase') (Brazeau and Campan, 1970;Queinnec and Campan, 1975;Thon and Queinnec, 1976;Thon, 1982;Angioy and Pietra, 1995;Dulcis and Levine, 2005;Slama and Farkás, 2005;Slama, 2010) as it is the case in Lepidoptera (Gerould, 1929;Wasserthal, 1980;Wasserthal, 1981;Hetz et al, 1999;Smits et al, 2000;Slama and Miller, 2001). However, the analysis with thermistor measurements under heat marking in intact flies suggested an opposite frequency attribution (Wasserthal, 1982b;Wasserthal, 1999). In mosquitoes, as in C. vicina, the longer pulse periods correspond to the forward pulse direction.…”

Section: Discussion Regular Periodic Heartbeat Reversals -Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Videos and measurements showed that the abdomen expands, facilitating hemolymph release through the caudal excurrent openings during backward beating of the heart. Lacking a valve structure at the excurrent opening (Angioy et al, 1999;Wasserthal, 1999), hemolymph, leaving the caudal opening during systole of the backward pulses, might be sucked back into the heart during the following diastole via the inflow ostia, resulting in a standing wave. The negative hemolymph pressure in the abdomen at the beginning of the backward pulse period might imply a suction effect, supporting the depletion of the heart (Fig.10).…”

Section: Discussion Regular Periodic Heartbeat Reversals -Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The recorded abdominal volume increase could then be interpreted as a relaxation with a change in intersegmental muscle tonus. The cushion-like sarcoplasmic swellings, narrowing the posterior heart lumen during contraction (Wasserthal, 1999), may prevent a reflux inside the heart and thus contribute to an efficient discharge of hemolymph in both directions. This mechanism is partly reminiscent of the system in the giant silk moth, where the abdomen lengthens during backward pulses and contracts during forward pulses (Wasserthal, 1981).…”

Section: Discussion Regular Periodic Heartbeat Reversals -Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This non-invasive method has been introduced in connection with records of moth hearts and pulsatile organs (Wasserthal, 1976) and has been reviewed (Miller, 1979). It has already been successfully applied in Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera (Wasserthal, 1982b;Wasserthal, 1996;Wasserthal, 1999;Hetz et al, 1999;Lubischer et al, 1999;Slama and Miller, 2001). This method allowed the thermistors to be mounted without anaesthesia and was preferred as a reference recording in combination with other techniques.…”

Section: Recording Of Heartbeat By Thermistorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Heartbeat reversal in flies has been repeatedly described (Brazeau and Campan, 1970;Queinnec and Campan, 1975;Thon, 1980;Thon, 1982;Thon and Queinnec, 1976;Angioy and Pietra, 1995;Wasserthal, 1999;Dulcis and Levine, 2005;Slama and Farkás, 2005;Slama, 2010;Glenn et al, 2010), but it has rarely been convincingly recorded and analysed in intact flies; moreover, its functional implications remain unclear. A controversy about the flow direction of high-frequency and low-frequency heart pulses has carried on until today.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of periodic heartbeat reversal and abdominal movements on hemocoelic and tracheal pressure in resting blowfliesCalliphora vicina

Wasserthal

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYIn Calliphoridae and Drosophilidae, the dorsal vessel (heart and aorta with associated venous channels) is the only connection between the thorax and the abdomen. Hemolymph oscillates between the compartments by periodic heartbeat reversal, but both the mechanism and its influence on hemocoelic and tracheal pressure have remained unclear. The pumping direction of the heart regularly reverses, with a higher pulse rate during backward compared with forward pumping. A sequence of forward and backward pulse periods lasts approximately 34s. Pulse rate, direction, velocity and the duration of heartbeat periods were determined by thermistor and electrophysiological measurements. For the first time, heartbeat-induced pressure changes were measured in the hemocoel and in the tracheal system of the thorax and the abdomen. The tracheal pressure changed from subatmospheric during backward heartbeat to supra-atmospheric during forward heartbeat in the thorax and inversely in the abdomen. The heartbeat reversals were coordinated with slow abdominal movements with a pumping stroke at the beginning of the forward pulse period. The pressure effect of the pumping stroke was visible only in the abdomen. Periodic hemolymph shift and abdominal movements resulted in pressure changes in the hemocoel and tracheal system alternating in the thorax and abdomen, suggesting an effect on respiratory gas exchange. Supplementary material available online at

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Section: Discussion Regular Periodic Heartbeat Reversals -Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion Regular Periodic Heartbeat Reversals -Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion Regular Periodic Heartbeat Reversals -Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recording Of Heartbeat By Thermistorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of periodic heartbeat reversal and abdominal movements on hemocoelic and tracheal pressure in resting blowfliesCalliphora vicina

Wasserthal

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Innervation of the heart of the adult fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster

Dulcis

Levine

2003

J of Comparative Neurology

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The innervation of the adult abdominal heart of Drosophila melanogaster was studied by neuronal staining with green fluorescent protein and immunocytochemical techniques. The investigation was undertaken to determine whether the adult heart receives neuronal input or whether its complex activity must be considered independent from the nervous system. The larval heart lacks innervation, suggesting that the cardiac impulse is totally myogenic. At metamorphosis, segmental neural processes grow onto the myocardium. A pair of transverse nerves innervates bilaterally each cardiac chamber and its alary muscles. These nerve terminals are immunoreactive to glutamate and form unique synaptic structures on the ventral layer of longitudinal cardiac muscles of the conical chamber. This characteristic cardiac synapse may represent part of the neural mechanism controlling the retrograde heartbeat, and, thus, the cardiac reversal that is characteristic of adults. In addition, crustacean cardioactive peptide-immunoreactive fibers originating from peripheral, bipolar neurons (BpNs) fasciculate with the transverse nerve projections and terminate segmentally throughout the abdominal heart. An additional cluster composed of four large, CCAP-positive neurons innervates the terminal chamber. The cardioacceleratory effect of CCAP release at this location may modulate the properties of a pacemaker producing the anterograde heartbeat.

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