title: Fat and glycogen utilization in the larynx Muscles of fire-bellied toads (Bombina bombina L.) during calling activity.
abstract: Both fat and glycogen are present in abundance in the larynx muscles of anurans. To clarify their role, the Musculus dilatator laryngis of the male fire-bellied toad, Bombina bombina was studied. In untreated males, the mean fat content of this larynx muscle was 14%; the muscle contained glycogen amounting to 57% of that measured in the liver tissue of the same animal. After thirteen days of continual calling activity induced by administration of a gonadotropin, the fat content fell to 6%, the glycogen to 34%. The fat content was essentially unchanged (13%) by four hours of electrical stimulation of the muscle; the glycogen content, however, had fallen to 42% after this treatment. Neither component was altered in amount by castration, the fat content being about 13% and that of glycogen, 52%. Nor did treatment with gonadotropic hormone reduce either the fat content (13%) or the amount of glycogen (59%). From these results it was concluded that fats represent a direct source of energy for the larynx muscles, which is used up gradually over long periods of calling. The glycogen in these muscles, on the other hand, is a short-term store sufficient to supply energy for only a few hours of calling activity.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000378:metabolism*; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D002369:Castration; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006064:Gonadotropins, Equine / Q000494:pharmacology; D007830:Larynx / Q000378:metabolism*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009210:Myofibrils / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
chemical_list: D006064:Gonadotropins, Equine