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Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis

Contrary to previous studies, we found that Xenopus laevis tadpoles raised in normoxic water without access to air can routinely complete metamorphosis with lungs that are either severely stunted and uninflated or absent altogether. This is the first demonstration that lung development in a tetrapod...

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Autores principales: Rose, Christopher S., James, Brandon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Company of Biologists 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863417/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24337117
http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/bio.20133772
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author Rose, Christopher S.
James, Brandon
author_facet Rose, Christopher S.
James, Brandon
author_sort Rose, Christopher S.
collection PubMed
description Contrary to previous studies, we found that Xenopus laevis tadpoles raised in normoxic water without access to air can routinely complete metamorphosis with lungs that are either severely stunted and uninflated or absent altogether. This is the first demonstration that lung development in a tetrapod can be inhibited by environmental factors and that a tetrapod that relies significantly on lung respiration under unstressed conditions can be raised to forego this function without adverse effects. This study compared lung development in untreated, air-deprived (AD) and air-restored (AR) tadpoles and frogs using whole mounts, histology, BrdU labeling of cell division and antibody staining of smooth muscle actin. We also examined the relationship of swimming and breathing behaviors to lung recovery in AR animals. Inhibition and recovery of lung development occurred at the stage of lung inflation. Lung recovery in AR tadpoles occurred at a predictable and rapid rate and correlated with changes in swimming and breathing behavior. It thus presents a new experimental model for investigating the role of mechanical forces in lung development. Lung recovery in AR frogs was unpredictable and did not correlate with behavioral changes. Its low frequency of occurrence could be attributed to developmental, physical and behavioral changes, the effects of which increase with size and age. Plasticity of lung inflation at tadpole stages and loss of plasticity at postmetamorphic stages offer new insights into the role of developmental plasticity in amphibian lung loss and life history evolution.
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spelling pubmed-38634172013-12-16 Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis Rose, Christopher S. James, Brandon Biol Open Research Article Contrary to previous studies, we found that Xenopus laevis tadpoles raised in normoxic water without access to air can routinely complete metamorphosis with lungs that are either severely stunted and uninflated or absent altogether. This is the first demonstration that lung development in a tetrapod can be inhibited by environmental factors and that a tetrapod that relies significantly on lung respiration under unstressed conditions can be raised to forego this function without adverse effects. This study compared lung development in untreated, air-deprived (AD) and air-restored (AR) tadpoles and frogs using whole mounts, histology, BrdU labeling of cell division and antibody staining of smooth muscle actin. We also examined the relationship of swimming and breathing behaviors to lung recovery in AR animals. Inhibition and recovery of lung development occurred at the stage of lung inflation. Lung recovery in AR tadpoles occurred at a predictable and rapid rate and correlated with changes in swimming and breathing behavior. It thus presents a new experimental model for investigating the role of mechanical forces in lung development. Lung recovery in AR frogs was unpredictable and did not correlate with behavioral changes. Its low frequency of occurrence could be attributed to developmental, physical and behavioral changes, the effects of which increase with size and age. Plasticity of lung inflation at tadpole stages and loss of plasticity at postmetamorphic stages offer new insights into the role of developmental plasticity in amphibian lung loss and life history evolution. The Company of Biologists 2013-10-16 /pmc/articles/PMC3863417/ /pubmed/24337117 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/bio.20133772 Text en © 2013. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
spellingShingle Research Article
Rose, Christopher S.
James, Brandon
Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis
title Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis
title_full Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis
title_fullStr Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis
title_full_unstemmed Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis
title_short Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis
title_sort plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, xenopus laevis
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863417/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24337117
http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/bio.20133772
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