Intestinal α-glycosidase transcriptional responses during development and diet adjustment in altricial birds.

We describe developmental changes in maltasic activity and its mRNA until adulthood, and in response to an increase in dietary starch. We studied house sparrows (), which undergo a natural switch from insects to a starch-containing seed diet during development, and zebra finches (), which have a relatively fixed starchy seed diet during development. In zebra finches, in which maltasic activity increased with age but not with dietary starch, α-glycosidase (AG) mRNA was not affected by either age or dietary starch level.

Contamination of heavy metals in birds from Embalse La Florida (San Luis, Argentina).

Embalse La Florida is an artificial lake located in midwestern Argentina's San Luis province. It provides drinking water to approximately 70% of the province's human population and approximately 20% of the province is irrigated with water from the reservoir. The presence of heavy metals in Embalse La Florida's water has previously been reported.