Life Sciences Seminar: Jacquie Ludwig
Life Sciences Seminar
Can moth muscles make robots move? Examining metamorphosis in the tobacco hawkmoth to identify tissue engineering targets
Dr. Jacquie Ludwig
Inclusive Excellence Program Manager, RIT
In the tobacco hawkmoth (Manduca sexta), metamorphosis involves restructuring a soft caterpillar with slowly contracting muscles into a rigid adult with flight powered by rapidly contracting muscles. The largest of these, the dorsolongitudinal flight muscles (DLMs), develop from partially degenerated larval fibers, making them identifiable throughout pupal life. This may allow the DLMs to be engineered for use in soft robots or other devices.
Abstract:
During full metamorphosis in holometabolous insects like flies, ants, bees, and moths, much of the juvenile body degenerates to be replaced by structures suitable for adult-specific behaviors such as reproduction and flight. In the tobacco hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, metamorphosis involves restructuring a soft caterpillar with slowly contracting muscles into a rigid adult with flight powered by rapidly contracting muscles. The largest of these, the dorsolongitudinal flight muscles (DLMs), develop from partially degenerated larval fibers, making them identifiable throughout pupal life. This may allow the DLMs to be engineered for use in soft robots or other devices. While much is known about Manduca DLM development, the specific signals required for DLMs to form into complete, robust muscles are not fully understood. In my work, I’ve demonstrated that the DLMs can be isolated from the body during metamorphosis and made to differentiate into contractile muscles. I also examined the role of the larval muscle fibers and neurons in development of the DLM with respect to muscle size, shape, and function. My findings suggest that the DLMs are not highly dependent on input from neighboring tissues, being able to develop normally without neural input through any of the candidate pathways and forming with correct size and shape without input from the larval muscle fibers. The larval fibers did help to control DLM shape, supporting the idea that these structures can be mimicked to preconfigure muscle constructs for specific applications. Taken together, these findings support the use of Manduca DLMs as an engineering target for use in biological machines.
Intended Audience: Beginners, undergraduates, graduates. Those with interest in the topic.
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