title: Why do insects enter and recover from chill coma? Low temperature and high extracellular potassium compromise muscle function in Locusta migratoria.
abstract: When exposed to low temperatures, many insect species enter a reversible comatose state (chill coma), which is driven by a failure of neuromuscular function. Chill coma and chill coma recovery have been associated with a loss and recovery of ion homeostasis (particularly extracellular [K(+)], [K(+)]o) and accordingly onset of chill coma has been hypothesized to result from depolarization of membrane potential caused by loss of ion homeostasis. Here, we examined whether onset of chill coma is associated with a disturbance in ion balance by examining the correlation between disruption of ion homeostasis and onset of chill coma in locusts exposed to cold at varying rates of cooling. Chill coma onset temperature changed maximally 1°C under different cooling rates and marked disturbances of ion homeostasis were not observed at any of the cooling rates. In a second set of experiments, we used isolated tibial muscle to determine how temperature and [K(+)]o, independently and together, affect tetanic force production. Tetanic force decreased by 80% when temperature was reduced from 23°C to 0.5°C, while an increase in [K(+)]o from 10 mmol l(-1) to 30 mmol l(-1) at 23°C caused a 40% reduction in force. Combining these two stressors almost abolished force production. Thus, low temperature alone may be responsible for chill coma entry, rather than a disruption of extracellular K(+) homeostasis. As [K(+)] also has a large effect on tetanic force production, it is hypothesized that recovery of [K(+)]o following chill coma could be important for the time to recovery of normal neuromuscular function.
authors.affiliation: Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 3, Building 1131, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Findsen
authors.forename: Thomas Holm
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Asbjørn Graver
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Ole Bækgaard
authors.initials: OB
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Overgaard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis; D048188:Locusta migratoria / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009142:Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; D011188:Potassium / Q000378:metabolism*; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance
chemical_list: D011188:Potassium
keywords: Cold tolerance; Critical thermal minimum; Grashoppers; Isometric force; Membrane potential; Neuromuscular junction