Volatile and Semivolatile Compounds in Gray Catbird Uropygial Secretions Vary with Age and Between Breeding and Wintering Grounds

Shaw, Cheng-Kuang; Rutter, Jordan E.; Austin, Amy L.; Garvin, Mary C.; Whelan, Rebecca J.

doi:10.1007/s10886-011-9931-6

Cited by 36 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The uropygial gland secretes preen oil which birds spread on their feathers with their bills to clean and maintain the feathers and to manage the feather-degrading bacterial communities that populate them (Jacob and Ziswiler, 1982;Shawkey et al, 2003;Martín-Vivaldi et al, 2009. This oil also contains volatile compounds that can communicate information about the individual's species identity , sex (Soini et al, 2007;Whittaker et al, 2010), age (Shaw et al, 2011), and breeding condition (Whittaker et al, 2011), and that can even be predictive of an individual's reproductive success . Recently, we demonstrated that the darkeyed junco's uropygial gland harbors a diverse and rich bacterial community, and that several of the bacterial genera identified are known to produce volatile compounds present in junco preen oil (Whittaker and Theis, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chemical signaling is an underappreciated means of communication among birds, as may be the potential contributions of symbiotic microbes to animal chemical communication in general. The dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) produces and detects volatile compounds that may be important in reproductive behavior. These compounds are found in preen oil secreted by the uropygial gland, and this gland supports diverse bacterial communities including genera known to produce some of these volatile compounds. We investigated the relative contributions of shared environments and genetic relatedness in shaping juncos' symbiotic bacterial communities, and investigated whether these bacterial communities underlie juncos' chemical signaling behavior. We sampled parents and nestlings at 9 junco nests during one breeding season at Mountain Lake Biological Station in Virginia, USA. From each individual, we collected swabs of the uropygial gland and the cloaca, preen oil, and a small blood sample for paternity testing. We characterized junco bacterial communities through 16S rRNA gene surveys and preen oil volatile compounds via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Nest membership and age class had the strongest influence on the structure of bacterial and volatile profiles. We compared father-offspring similarity based on paternity, and nestling similarity in nests containing full siblings and half siblings, and found that relatedness did not noticeably affect bacterial or volatile profiles. While we cannot rule out an influence of genetic relatedness on these profiles, it is clear that shared environments are more influential in shaping bacterial and volatile profiles among juncos. We did not find significant covariation between individual bacterial and volatile profiles. Possible explanations for this result include: (1) bacteria do not underlie volatile production; (2) ample redundancy in volatile production among bacterial types obscures covariation; or (3) the relationship is confounded by the fact that, unlike glands exclusively dedicated to chemical communication, uropygial glands have multiple functions, and symbiotic Whittaker et al.Junco Microbial and Odor Profiles bacteria are hypothesized to contribute to each of these. Therefore, different bacteria may contribute to different phenotypes of the avian holobiont. Future work will include cultivation, metabolomic, genomic, and behavioral assay approaches to tease these scenarios apart.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, there also is reason to believe that preen oil is an important social chemosignal (Hirao et al 2009;Johansson and Jones 2007), as it contains volatile compounds that may act as strong signals detectable via olfaction. Preen oil compounds exhibit sexual (Amo et al 2012;Leclaire et al 2011Leclaire et al , 2012Mardon et al 2010;Soini et al 2007;Zhang et al 2010;) and age variation (Shaw et al 2011), as well as being repeatable signatures of an individual (Mardon et al 2010;Whittaker et al 2010). Finally, preen oil compounds are also species-specific (Haribal et al 2005;Soini et al 2013;Zhang et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Passeriformes is the most specious order of birds, and, more recently, several songbirds have been found to produce volatile compounds (Amo et al 2012;Haribal et al 2005;Krause and Caspers 2012;Soini et al 2007;Whittaker et al 2010;Shaw et al 2011). One passerine, the dark-eyed junco, Junco hyemalis, has been shown to exhibit seasonal (Soini et al 2007), individual, and sexual variation (Whittaker et al 2010) in preen oil chemistry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in Preen Oil Composition Pertaining to Season, Sex, and Genotype in the Polymorphic White-Throated Sparrow

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evidence for the the ability of birds to detect olfactory signals is now well documented, yet it remains unclear whether birds secrete chemicals that can be used as social cues. A potential source of chemical cues in birds is the secretion from the uropygial gland, or preen gland, which is thought to waterproof, maintain, and protect feathers from ectoparasites. However, it is possible that preen oil also may be used for individual recognition, mate choice, and signalling social/sexual status. If preen oil secretions can be used as socio-olfactory signals, we should be able to identify the volatile components that could make the secretions more detectable, determine the seasonality of these secretions, and determine whether olfactory signals differ among relevant social groups. We examined the seasonal differences in volatile compounds of the preen oil of captive white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis. This species is polymorphic and has genetically determined morphs that occur in both sexes. Mating is almost exclusively disassortative with respect to morph, suggesting strong mate choice. By sampling the preen oil from captive birds in breeding and non-breeding conditions, we identified candidate chemical signals that varied according to season, sex, morph, and species. Linear alcohols with a 10-18 carbon chains, as well as methyl ketones and carboxylic acids, were the most abundant volatile compounds. Both the variety and abundances of some of these compounds were different between the sexes and morphs, with one morph secreting more volatile compounds in the non-breeding season than the other. In addition, 12 compounds were seasonally elevated in amount, and were secreted in high amounts in males. Finally, we found that preen oil signatures tended to be species-specific, with white-throated sparrows differing from the closely related Junco in the abundances and/or prevalence of at least three compounds. Our data suggest roles for preen oil secretions and avian olfaction in both non-social as well as social interactions.

show abstract

“…The use of chemical communication by birds was doubted until recent years, when several studies began to decode information contained in these chemosignals (e.g., Mardon et al, 2010;Whittaker et al, 2010;Shaw et al, 2011), and provided evidence of the ability of birds to detect these chemicals Whittaker et al, 2011) and a role of these chemicals in social and reproductive behavior (reviewed in Balthazart and Taziaux, 2009). In most species of birds studied to date, compounds that may play a role in chemical signaling are present in preen oil secreted from the uropygial, or preen, gland (Bonadonna et al, 2007;Soini et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Birds spread this oil over feathers while preening, where it functions to protect the feathers from exposure to the environment, enhance insulation, and lower ectoparasite load (Jacob and Ziswiler, 1982). The volatile and semivolatile compounds in preen oil also contribute an odor to a bird, which varies qualitatively among species , and quantitatively within species, between sexes, populations, individuals (Soini et al, 2007;Mardon et al, 2010;Whittaker et al, 2010), and age classes (Shaw et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Testosterone in Stimulating Seasonal Changes in a Potential Avian Chemosignal

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Songbird preen oil contains volatile and semivolatile compounds that may contain information about species, sex, individual identity, and season. We examined the relationship between testosterone (T) and the amounts of preen oil volatile and semivolatile compounds in wild and captive dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis). In wild males and females, we observed an increase in volatile compound relative concentration early in the breeding season. This increase mirrored previously described seasonal elevation in T levels in wild males and females, suggesting a positive relationship between hormone levels and preen gland secretions, and a possible role for these secretions in signaling receptivity. In females, the greatest relative concentrations of most compounds were observed close to egg laying, a time when steroid hormones are high and also the only time that females respond to an injection of gonadotropin-releasing hormone with a short-term increase in T. In a study of captive juncos held on short days, we asked whether the seasonal increases observed in the wild could be induced with experimental elevation of T alone. We found that exogenous T stimulated the production of some volatile compounds in non-breeding individuals of both sexes. However, of the 15 compounds known to increase during the breeding season, only four showed an increase in relative concentration in birds that received T implants. Our results suggest that testosterone levels likely interact with other seasonally induced physiological changes to affect volatile compound amounts in preen oil.

show abstract

Volatile and Semivolatile Compounds in Gray Catbird Uropygial Secretions Vary with Age and Between Breeding and Wintering Grounds

Cited by 36 publications

References 29 publications

Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

Variation in Preen Oil Composition Pertaining to Season, Sex, and Genotype in the Polymorphic White-Throated Sparrow

Role of Testosterone in Stimulating Seasonal Changes in a Potential Avian Chemosignal

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About