© 2001 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Milton Fingerman—50 Years of Crustacean Endocrinology1
1 Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois 61790-4120
This symposium was organized to honor the career of Professor Milton Fingerman. Every discipline has its leaders, individuals who through insight and persistence move their field forward. Milt Fingerman is such an individual, one who has had a lasting impact on the field of crustacean endocrinology. In addition, Milt's tireless efforts have benefited the greater scientific enterprise, including the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology and the Crustacean Society.
Born in Boston, Milt attended Boston College as an undergraduate, and then went to Northwestern University for his Ph.D. His professional interest in crustaceans began during this period, when he joined the laboratory of Frank Brown and spent summers at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. After a two-year stint with the U.S. Army at Fort Detrick Md., Milt joined the faculty at Tulane University in 1954. Milt retired from its Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2000, after having served as chair of the department for 13 yr. Milt also served as the Managing Editor of the American Zoologist for 15 yr, and has been an editorial board member of 8 journals and associate editor of two journals.
Milt's career has been distinguished by an enormous productivity. At the time of the symposium, he had published more than 325 papers or book chapters, two books, and over 120 abstracts. His contributions to the field of crustacean endocrinology have been broad, and have covered nearly all areas of crustacean biology and physiology—color changes (Fingerman, 1966
), reproduction (Fingerman, 1997), molting (Fingerman et al., 1996), eye pigment movements (Fingerman et al., 1959), regeneration (Fingerman et al., 1998), toxicology (Reddy and Fingerman, 1995), and pharmacology (Zou and Fingerman, 1998). He has published papers on over 20 species of crustaceans and over 8 species of other invertebrates (plus one vertebrate species). These have included 5 species of crabs, 5 species of shrimps, 4 species of crayfish, and an assortment of other species (including barnacles, lobsters, horseshoe crabs, stomatopods and isopods).
Milt published his first abstract in 1950, a study of the diurnal locomotor rhythm in the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, (Brown et al., 1950). He subsequently investigated the endocrine regulation of chromatophores and eye pigments. His early studies of the hormonal regulation of eye pigment movement during dark adaptation (Kulkarni and Fingerman, 1989) and his demonstration that there were multiple forms of pigment dispersing hormones (Fingerman, 1995) were seminal contributions to the field of crustacean endocrinology. This work culminated in his oft-cited 1963 book "The Control of Chromatophores" (Fingerman, 1963). Since then, his research career has broadened to include diverse areas such as ecotoxicology and pharmacology, and he has published extensively about the biogenic amines and neurotransmitters that control the release of neurosecretory hormones.
We organized this symposium to reflect Milt's varied research interests as a way of celebrating the 50th year of his scientific career. The breadth of his interests yielded a symposium that covers many of the active research areas in crustacean endocrinology. The beginning of the new millenium is an opportune time to review the development of our field and to wonder where it will go in the future. The last symposium of this society (at that time the American Society of Zoologist) that focused solely on this topic was Advances in Crustacean Endocrinology, held in December 1983 in Philadelphia. Since then, this annual meeting has hosted two other notable crustacean symposia, each of which contained a substantial number of papers on selected fields of endocrinology: The Compleat Crab, held in December, 1990 in San Antonio, and more recently The Compleat Crustacean Biologist, held in January 1998 in Boston.
A comparison of the papers in the 1983 symposium with those in this symposium provides insight into the progress of crustacean endocrinology during the intervening years. The contributions to the 1983 symposium highlighted the importance of neuropeptides as crustacean hormones. Some of the papers focused on the characterization of neuropeptides (e.g., Newcomb et al., 1985) and their intracellular second messengers (Sedlmeier, 1985). Other papers describe the roles of neuropeptides in molting (Chang, 1985; Skinner, 1985), vitellogenesis (Charniaux-Cotton, 1985), sugar metabolism (Keller et al., 1985), chromatophore function (Fingerman, 1985; Aréchiga et al., 1985), and osmoregulation (Mantel, 1985). Only a few of these neuropeptides had been completely purified and sequenced, and it was difficult to determine their exact functions. Other papers described methods for measuring ecdysteroids (O'Connor, 1985) and the initial characterization of ecdysteroid binding proteins (Londershausen and Spindler, 1985). However, the biochemical and molecular aspects of ecdysteroid action were still largely unexplored.
In his introduction to the 1983 symposium, Tom Jegla (1985) emphasized that there was a need to focus on the molecular and cellular aspects of our field in the future. More crustacean hormones needed to be chemically characterized. In addition, we needed to understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate their synthesis and release from endocrine tissues and that medicate their effects on target cells. The papers in the current symposium show that crustacean endocrinologist accepted this challenge and embraced the techniques of cellular and molecular biology. The amino acid and nucleotides sequences of several crustacean hormones are now known, making it possible to do sophisticated studies on their functions (see papers by Rao, Watson et al., Borst et al., and Chang in this symposium). We know more about the regulation of reproduction and the determination of sexuality (see papers by Quakenbush, Tsukimura, and Sagi and Khalaila). We also know a lot more about ecdysteroids: their receptors, the intracellular mechanisms involved in their synthesis, and new factors that appear to control their production (see papers by Hopkins, Spaziani, and Mykles). Finally, in the years since the last symposium a new crustacean hormone, methyl farnesoate, has been identified and its roles in reproduction and development are being studied (see papers by Borst et al., and Laufer and Biggers).
What will the future bring? What should the agenda be for the next 16 yr of research on these fascinating arthropods? A poll of the symposium participants made it clear that there are still many questions that need to be answered. Clearly, our field will benefit enormously if someone develops a "knockout krab" or organizes a "shrimp genome project." In the absence of such efforts, we still have many important and fundamental questions that can be answered about our animals. From a molecular perspective, we need to know more about the mechanisms controlling hormone production and release. For example, to what extent do feedback mechanisms regulate hormone levels? We also need to know more about the receptors for both peptide and steroid crustacean hormones. What is the physiological significance of hormone and receptor isoforms in our animals? What signal transduction pathways are involved in target cell responses to these hormones? From a physiological perspective, we need to better understand how hormones regulate tissues. For example, what is the role of MIH in molting? Are other compounds, such as MF, also involved? What are the relative roles of locally produced compounds and systemic compounds in the regulation of complex processes, such as regeneration? And how do hormones regulate larval and juvenile crustaceans? Are the effects on these stages different from those observed in adults. Finally, we need to know how endocrine systems interface between the environment and the organism. For example, how do environmental cues affect the endocrine system? And what effects do environmental compounds, either natural or manmade, (i.e., environmental disruptors) affect the growth and survival of crustaceans.
Clearly, we have a lot that we need to know. We look forward to a continuing stream of publications from the Fingerman lab as he helps lead us, even in retirement, in our study of crustacean endocrinology.
We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation IBN 9983562, the Crustacean Society, and SICB.
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1 From the Symposium Recent Progress in Crustacean Endocrinology: A Symposium in Honor of Milton Fingerman presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology, 4–8 January 2000, at Atlanta, Georgia.
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Aréchiga, H., J. L. Cortes, U. Garcia, and L. Rodriquez-Sosa. 1985. Neuroendocrine correlates of circadian rhythmicity in crustacean. Amer. Zool, 25:265-274.
Brown, F. A., Jr.,, M. N. Hines, H. M. Webb, and M. Fingerman. 1950. Effects of constant illumination upon the magnitude of the diurnal rhythm of Uca. Anat. Rec, 108:604.
Chang, E. S. 1985. Hormonal control of molting in decapod Crustacea. Amer. Zool, 25:179-186.
Charniaux-Cotton, H. 1985. Vitellogenesis and its control in malacostracan Crustacea. Amer. Zool, 25:197-206.
Fingerman, M. 1963. The control of chromatophores. Pergamon-MacMillan, New York, pp. 1–84.
Fingerman, M. 1966. Neurosecretory control of pigmentary effectors in crustaceans. Amer. Zool, 6:169-179.[Web of Science][Medline]
Fingerman, M. 1985. The physiology and pharmacology of crustacean chromatophores. Amer. Zool, 25:233-252.
Fingerman, M. 1995. Endocrine mechanisms in crayfish with emphasis on reproduction and neurotransmitter regulation of hormone release. Amer. Zool, 35:68-78.
Fingerman, M. 1997. Roles of neurotransmitters in regulating reproductive hormone release and gonadal maturation in decapod crustaceans. Invert. Reprod. Develop, 31:47-54.
Fingerman, M., M. E. Lowe, and B. J. Sundaraj. 1959. Hormones controlling the distal retinal pigment of the crayfish, Orconectes clypeatus. Amer. Mid. Nat, 62:167-173.
Fingerman, M., M. Devi, P. S. Reddy, and R. Katyayani. 1996. Impact of heavy hetal exposure on the nervous system and endocrine-meidated processes in crustaceans. Zool. Studies, 35:1-8.
Fingerman, M., N. C. Jackson, and R. Nagabhushanam. 1998. Hormonally-regulated functions in crustaceans as biomarkers of environmental pollution. Comp. Biochem. Physiol, 120C:343-350.
Jegla, T. C. 1985. Introduction to the symposium honoring Professors Dorothy Bliss and Lewis Kleinholz: Advances in crustacean endocrinology. Amer. Zool, 25:155-156.
Keller, R., P. P. Jaros, and G. Kegel. 1985. Crustacean hyperglycemic neuropeptides. Amer. Zool, 25:207-222.
Kulkarni, G. K., and M. Fingerman. 1989. Gamma-aminobutyric acid and histamine: Possible roles in regulating release of the light-adapting hormones that control the distal retinal pigment of the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator. Indian J. Invert. Zool. Aquatic Biol, 1:112-120.
Londershausen, M., and K.-D. Spindler. 1985. Uptake and binding of moulting hormones in crayfish. Amer. Zool, 25:187-196.
Mantel, L. H. 1985. Neurohormonal integration of osmotic and ionic regulation. Amer. Zool, 25:253-264.
Newcomb, R., E. Stuenkel, and I. Cooke. 1985. Characterization, biosynthesis, and release of neuropeptides from the X-organ-sinus gland system of the crab, Cardisoma carnifex. Amer. Zool, 25:157-172.
O'Connor, J. D. 1985. Radioimmunoassay and the characterization of crustacean ecdysteroids. Amer. Zool, 25:173-178.
Reddy, P. S., and M. Fingerman. 1995. Effect of cadmium chloride on physiological color changes in the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety, 31:76-83.[Medline]
Sedlmeier, D. 1985. Mode of action of crustacean hyperglycemic hormone. Amer. Zool, 25:223-232.
Skinner, D. M. 1985. Interacting factors in the control of the crustacean molt cycle. Amer. Zool, 25:275-284.
Zou, E., and M. Fingerman. 1998. Exposure to estrogenic xenobiotics disturbs the Y-organ-ecdysteroid axis in the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator. Amer. Zool, 38:207A.
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