Testing the developmental stress hypothesis in canaries: consequences of nutritional stress on adult song phenotype and mate attractiveness

Müller, Wendt; Vergauwen, Jonas; Eens, Marcel

doi:10.1007/s00265-010-0989-x

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…These estimates represent established, biologically interpretable measures of the individual growth trajectory and thus the quality of the early development [55,67,74-76]. We hence used the asymptotic mass and the logistic growth constant in order to estimate the consequence of the early developmental conditions on yolk carotenoid and vitamin E deposition at adulthood.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental effects shape the maternal transfer of carotenoids and vitamin E to the yolk

et al. 2012

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IntroductionMaternal effects occur when the phenotype of the offspring is influenced by the phenotype of the mother, which in turn depends on her heritable state as well as on influences from the current and past environmental conditions. All of these pathways may, therefore, form significant sources of variation in maternal effects. Here, we focused on the maternal transfer of carotenoids and vitamin E to the egg yolk, using canaries as a model species. Maternal yolk carotenoids and vitamin E are known to generate significant phenotypic variation in offspring, representing examples of maternal effects. We studied the intra-individual consistency in deposition patterns across two years and the mother-daughter resemblance across two generations in order to estimate the level of heritable variation. The effects of the current environmental conditions were studied via a food supplementation experiment, while the consequences of past environmental conditions were estimated on the basis of the early growth trajectories.ResultsThere was a significant effect of the current environmental conditions on the yolk carotenoid and vitamin E deposition, but this effect varied between antioxidant components. The deposition of yolk carotenoids and vitamin E were linked to the process of yolk formation. Past environmental conditions did not contribute to the variation in yolk carotenoid and vitamin E levels nor did we find significant heritable variation.ConclusionsThe transfer of carotenoids or vitamin E may be an example where current environmental variation is largely passed from the mother to the offspring, despite the numerous intermediate physiological steps that are involved. Differences in the effect of the environmental conditions as experienced by the mother during laying may be due to differences in availability as well as physiological processes such as competitive exclusion or selective absorption.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental effects shape the maternal transfer of carotenoids and vitamin E to the yolk

et al. 2012

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“…Several independent studies have shown that song production is affected by developmental conditions [48] [49–51], mediated in part through structural changes to key brain centres [52–54]. Some studies have failed to find an effect of early developmental conditions on brain morphology [55] or song complexity [56], suggesting that the nature or timing of the environmental stress is important. In the songbird brain, the HVC, which relates to song complexity appears to be selectively susceptible to stress [24, 57], presumably through the indirect or direct action of the glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone on neurogenesis or the maintenance of existing neurons [58].…”

Section: Condition-dependent Cognitive Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Condition dependence, developmental plasticity, and cognition: implications for ecology and evolution

Buchanan

Grindstaff

Pravosudov

2013

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

119

138

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Across taxa, both neural growth and cognitive function show considerable developmental plasticity. Data from studies of decision-making, learning and discrimination demonstrate that early life conditions have an impact on subsequent neural growth, maintenance and cognition, with important ecological and evolutionary implications. We provide a synthesis of the evidence that spatial and vocal learning are condition-dependent, addressing what is known about their physiological control and the functional explanations. Neural investment is predicted to be affected by environmental conditions, but the shape of the response should depend on the fitness benefits of the cognitive traits under control. From an evolutionary perspective, traits promoting resistance to environmental perturbations should be favoured when the cognitive trait is a crucial determinant of fitness.

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“…A second sample of blood was taken when nestlings in a brood were 12 days old because this age falls within the maximal (i.e. linear) phase of growth (Müller et al, 2010). The same number of non-breeding males and females was bled concomitantly with breeding birds to avoid any influence of temporal variation in bleeding period.…”

Section: Housing Conditions and Experimental Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does reproduction protect against oxidative stress?

Casasole

Eens

2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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A central principle of life-history theory is that parents trade investment in reproduction against that in body maintenance. One physiological cost thought to be important as a modulator of such trade-off is oxidative stress. Experimental support for this hypothesis has, however, proved to be contradictory. In this study, we manipulated the nestling rearing effort of captive canaries (Serinus canaria) soon after the hatching of their nestlings using a brood-size manipulation to test whether an increase in nestling rearing effort translates into an increase in oxidative damage, an increase in ceruloplasmin (which is upregulated in response to oxidative damage) and a decrease in thiol antioxidants. We also compared the blood oxidative stress level of reproducing birds with that of nonreproducing birds, a crucial aspect that most studies have invariably failed to include in tests of the oxidative cost of reproduction. Compared with non-breeding canaries and pre-manipulation values, plasma oxidative damage (reactive oxygen metabolites and protein carbonyls) decreased in breeding canaries irrespective of sex and brood size. In contrast, oxidative damage did not change in nonbreeding birds over the experiment. Ceruloplasmin activity in plasma and both non-protein and protein thiols in red blood cells did not change throughout the experiment in both treatment groups. Our results suggest that reproduction may result in decreased rather than increased blood oxidative stress. Our results may explain some of the inconsistencies that have so far been reported in experimental tests of the oxidative cost of reproduction hypothesis.

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Testing the developmental stress hypothesis in canaries: consequences of nutritional stress on adult song phenotype and mate attractiveness

Cited by 20 publications

References 54 publications

Environmental effects shape the maternal transfer of carotenoids and vitamin E to the yolk

Environmental effects shape the maternal transfer of carotenoids and vitamin E to the yolk

Condition dependence, developmental plasticity, and cognition: implications for ecology and evolution

Does reproduction protect against oxidative stress?

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