Powering endurance: Fuel selection in migratory bats
Mammals that engage in high intensity endurance exercise will deplete their glycogen reserves and then reach a point of sudden fatigue. Migratory birds, however, have the capacity to sustain energetically expensive activities over extended periods via lipid oxydation, almost without any signs of exhaustion. Our aim is to decipher how migratory bats can generate high levels of power needed for a long distance migration. Do they metabolize endogenous fat depots (just like birds), or do they refuel on the way, either in air or at stop-over sites?
Project details
| Duration: | 2019 - 2021 |
| Third-party funded: | yes |
| Involved Department(s): | Dept Evolutionary Ecology, Dept Evolutionary Genetics, |
| Leibniz-IZW Project Leader(s): |
Christian Voigt (Dept Evolutionary Ecology)
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| Leibniz-IZW Project Team: | |
| Consortium Partner(s): |
Latvia University of Agriculture, Jelgava
University of Latvia, Riga
TU Munich, Germany
Helmholtz Centre Munich, Germany
MPIO Seewiesen, Germany
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| Current Funding Organisation: | Leibniz-Association (Leibniz Competitive Fund 2019-2021, K101/2018) |
| Research Foci: | Understanding traits and evolutionary adaptations |
Mammals that engage in high intensity endurance exercise will deplete their glycogen reserves after which they reach a point of sudden fatigue. Migratory birds, however, have the capacity to sustain energetically expensive activities over extended periods via lipid oxidation, almost without any signs of exhaustion. Our aim is to decipher how migratory bats can gen erate high levels of power needed for a long distance migration. Do they metabolize endogenous fat depots (just likebirds), or do they refuel on the way, either in air or at stop over sites?
Our model species will be the migratory bat species Pipistrellus nathusii. We have generated a reference genome and protein-coding sequence annotation and will use these resources to compare Pipistrellus nathusii with those of non migratory bats, terrestrial mammals and migratory birds. Genomes for multiple reprensentatives fo these groups are currently generated within the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA), Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP), the Bird10k and the Bat1K projects. Besides genomic comparisons we have also collected transcript data comparing the gene expression in migratory bats and birds, both at resting state and at high intensity endurance exercise. Candidate genes identified to be differentially expressed in the two states via a transcriptome analysis approach will then be scrutinised using qPCR. Our focus hereby lies on genes and pathways involved in the metabolism e.g. lipogenesis or glycogenesis.