Malpighian tubules of caterpillars: blending RNAseq and physiology to reveal regional functional diversity and novel epithelial ion transport control mechanisms
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Malpighian tubules (MTs) and hindgut constitute the functional kidney of insects. MTs are outpouches of the gut and in most insects demonstrate proximodistal heterogeneity in function. In most insects, such heterogeneity is confined to ion/fluid secretion in the distal portion and ion/fluid reabsorption in the proximal portion. In contrast, MTs of larval Lepidoptera (caterpillars of butterflies and moths), are comprised of five regions that differ in their association with the gut, their structure, and ion/fluid transport function. Recent studies have shown that several regions can rapidly and reversibly switch between ion secretion and reabsorption. The current study employed RNAseq, pharmacology and electrophysiology to characterize four distinct regions of the MT in larval Trichoplusia ni. Luminal microelectrode measurements indicate changes in [K+], [Na+] and pH as fluid passes through different regions of the tubule. In addition, the regions examined differ in gene ontology enrichment, and demonstrate robust gradients in expression of ion transporters and endocrine ligand receptors. Lastly, the study provides evidence for direct involvement of voltage-gated and ligand-gated ion channels in epithelial ion transport of insect MTs.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".