Cascading Effects of Conspecific Aggression on Oxidative Status and Telomere Length in Zebra Finches

Quque, Martin; Ferreira, Charly; Sosa, Sebastiàn; Schull, Quentin; Zahn, Sadrine; Criscuolo, François; Bleu, Josefa; Viblanc, Vincent A.

doi:10.1086/721252

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 142 publications

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“…Interestingly, in the model that passed all four selection criteria, affiliative behavior also had a beneficial effect on lifespan independent of its effects on telomeres. Other recent work in zebra finches showed that birds who experienced the most aggression had the highest levels of oxidative damage and the shortest telomeres ( 75 ). While this study did not measure affiliative behavior, it is possible that the birds that experienced the most aggression also received the smallest level of social support.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Birds of a feather age together: telomere dynamics and social behavior predict life span in female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

McCollum,

Canter,

Fasanello

et al. 2024

Front. Endocrinol.

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Social support is vital for mental and physical health and is linked to lower rates of disease and early mortality. Conversely, anti-social behavior can increase mortality risks, both for the initiator and target of the behavior. Chronic stress, which also can increase mortality, may serve as an important link between social behavior and healthy lifespan. There is a growing body of literature in both humans, and model organisms, that chronic social stress can result in more rapid telomere shortening, a measure of biological aging. Here we examine the role of anti-social behavior and social support on physiological markers of stress and aging in the social Japanese quail, Coturnix Japonica. Birds were maintained in groups for their entire lifespan, and longitudinal measures of antisocial behavior (aggressive agonistic behavior), social support (affiliative behavior), baseline corticosterone, change in telomere length, and lifespan were measured. We found quail in affiliative relationships both committed less and were the targets of less aggression compared to birds who were not in these relationships. In addition, birds displaying affiliative behavior had longer telomeres, and longer lifespans. Our work suggests a novel pathway by which social support may buffer against damage at the cellular level resulting in telomere protection and subsequent longer lifespans.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Birds of a feather age together: telomere dynamics and social behavior predict life span in female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

McCollum,

Canter,

Fasanello

et al. 2024

Front. Endocrinol.

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“…In our study region, mallards are subject to increased competition and aggressive behaviour due to the presence of Egyptian geese (Hohmann and Woog, 2021), which might result in increased metabolic activity and ROS generation (Quque et al, 2022). It might also be that the higher pace of life of mallards compared to Egyptian geese and mute swans determines higher baseline generation of ROS.…”

Section: Oxygen Carrying Capacity and Oxidative Statusmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Finally, we found that mallards had higher levels of eosinophils, basophils, oxidative damage (ROMs), and activity of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase compared to Egyptian geese and mute swans. In our study region, mallards are subject to increased competition and aggressive behaviour due to the presence of Egyptian geese (Hohmann and Woog, 2021), which might result in increased metabolic activity and ROS generation (Quque et al, 2022). It might also be that the higher pace of life of mallards compared to Egyptian geese and mute swans determines higher baseline generation of ROS.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower baseline immunity in invasive Egyptian goose compared to sympatric native waterfowls

Messina,

Prüter,

Czirják

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Successful invasive species out compete native species for vital resources. To increase their spreading success, invasive species need to trade-off nutritional and metabolic resources allocated to reproduction and range expansion with other costly body functions. One proposed mechanism for the reallocation of resources is a trade-off with the immune function. According to the evolution of increased competitive ability hypothesis, a reduced investment in immunity would be favoured by parasite loss in the colonised habitats. It is also suggested that invaders would reallocate resources among different immune effectors depending on the new pathogens they encounter in the new habitat. Reallocation of resources may also involve the regulation of oxidative status given its fundamental link with the immune system. Relying on a panel of blood-based markers of immune function and oxidative status quantified in an invasive species (Egyptian goose) and two native competing species (mallard and mute swan) in Germany, we tested the hypothesis that the invasive species would have a lower investment in immune function compared to the native species. We predicted lower levels of baseline immune markers associated with systemic inflammatory response, and higher levels of certain low-cost immunological effectors (e.g. humoral effectors) in the invasive species compared to the two native species. If Egyptian geese reduced their investment in immune function, we would also expect that geese generated less oxidative damage and had a lower expression of antioxidant defences than native species. We found lower levels of several immune markers associated either with inflammatory response or humoral innate and adaptive immunity in the invasive species compared to the two native species. Bacteria killing ability of plasma was the only immune marker that was upregulated in Egyptian geese. Markers of oxidative status were higher in mallards compared to the other species. The results of our study point to an overall reduced investment in immune function in the invasive species as a possible energy-saving immunological strategy due to the loss of parasites in the new colonised habitats. Thus, a lower investment in immune function may benefit other energy-demanding activities, such as reproduction, dispersal, and territoriality.

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Female chronotype and aggression covary on different hierarchical levels in a songbird

Meijdam,

Eens,

Thys

et al. 2024

Animal Behaviour

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Cascading Effects of Conspecific Aggression on Oxidative Status and Telomere Length in Zebra Finches

Cited by 5 publications

References 142 publications

Birds of a feather age together: telomere dynamics and social behavior predict life span in female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Birds of a feather age together: telomere dynamics and social behavior predict life span in female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Lower baseline immunity in invasive Egyptian goose compared to sympatric native waterfowls

Female chronotype and aggression covary on different hierarchical levels in a songbird

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