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'Turbocharged' Mitochondria Power Birds' Epic Migratory Journeys
Changes in the number, shape, efficiency and interconnectedness of organelles in the cells of flight muscles provide extra energy for birds’ continent-spanning feats.
“We were just amazed and interested in how can these birds fly for thousands of miles without stopping, at a really high intensity, when most of us can barely run a 5K,” said Paulo Mesquita, who studies mitochondrial physiology and muscle aging at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. The recent work advances the idea that there are significant ways in which an organism can change, without modifying its underlying genetic makeup, in response to its environment, said Scott McWilliams, a professor of wildlife ecology and physiology at the University of Rhode Island who was not involved in either study. The roving “MitoMobile” (top), an RV equipped with lab benches and scientific instruments, such as machines that measure oxygen uptake (bottom), allowed researchers to study the mitochondria of birds collected at different locations.
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