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Thermogenesis is the process of heat production in organisms.It occurs in all warm-blooded animals, and also in a few species of thermogenic plants such as the Eastern skunk cabbage, the Voodoo lily (Sauromatum venosum), and the giant water lilies of the genus Victoria.
In addition, shivering also signals the body to produce irisin, a hormone that has been shown to convert white fat to brown fat, which is used in non-shivering thermogenesis, the second type of human thermogensis. [27] Non-shivering thermogenesis occurs in the brown fat, which contains the uncoupling protein thermogenin.
The UCP1, or thermogenin, gene likely arose in an ancestor of modern vertebrates, but did not initially allow for our vertebrate ancestor to use non-shivering thermogenesis for warmth. It wasn't until heat generation was adaptively selected for in placental mammal descendants of this common ancestor that UCP1 evolved its current function in ...
However, brown adipose tissue is highly specialized for this non-shivering thermogenesis. First, each cell has a higher number of mitochondria compared to more typical cells. Second, these mitochondria have a higher-than-normal concentration of thermogenin in the inner membrane.
Endothermy [a] is the ability of some creatures to control their body temperatures through internal means such as muscle shivering or increasing their metabolism. The opposite of endothermy is ectothermy. Homeothermy [b] maintains a stable internal body temperature regardless of external influence and temperatures. The stable internal ...
Both processes consume energy, however high-intensity shivering uses glucose as a fuel source and low-intensity tends to use fats. This is a primary reason why animals store up food in the winter. [citation needed] Brown adipocytes are also capable of producing heat via a process called non-shivering thermogenesis. In this process ...
In shivering, the heat is the main intended product and is utilized for warmth. [citation needed] Newborn babies, infants, and young children experience a greater (net) heat loss than adults because of greater surface-area-to-volume ratio. As they cannot shiver to maintain body heat, [citation needed] they rely on non-shivering thermogenesis.
Non-shivering thermogenesis is a regulated process in which the proton gradient generated by electron transport in mitochondria is used to produce heat instead of ATP in brown adipose tissue. [3] Animals that hibernate include bats , ground squirrels and other rodents, mouse lemurs, the European hedgehog and other insectivores, monotremes and ...