Secondary sexual traits may convey information about individual condition. We assessed the capacity for immune challenge with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) during the prenatal and early postnatal stages to impact beak color development and expression in captive zebra finches. In addition, we tested whether adult immune challenge impacted beak color, and if early-life experience was influential. Immune challenge with KLH early in life slowed development of red beak coloration, and males challenged with KLH as nestlings had reduced red coloration as adults. Following adult KLH challenge, males exhibited a decline in beak redness. Birds challenged with KLH during development produced more anti-KLH antibodies after adult challenge. There was a significant interaction between young treatment and anti-KLH antibody production; for males not challenged with KLH early in life, individuals that mounted a weaker antibody response lost more red coloration after challenge than males mounting a stronger antibody response. Based on models of avian vision, these differences in beak coloration should be detectable to the finches. In contrast to previous studies, we found no effect of early-life or adult challenge with LPS on any aspects of beak coloration. These results provide evidence that beak color reflects developmental and current conditions, and that the signal is linked to critical physiological processes.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5027621 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arw029 | DOI Listing |
Gigascience
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
Background: Plumage coloration is a distinctive trait in ducks, and the Liancheng duck, characterized by its white plumage and black beak and webbed feet, serves as an excellent subject for such studies. However, academic comprehension of the genetic mechanisms underlying duck plumage coloration remains limited. To this end, the Liancheng duck genome (GCA_039998735.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Dis
December 2024
College of Agriculture, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, Tongliao 028000, P. R. China;
Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia divaricata) is a perennial plant belonging to the Umbelliferae family, and is widely cultivated as a traditional Chinese medicine plant used to treat various diseases in northern China. In August 2022, a widespread leaf spot disease emerged on the Fangfeng leaves across a 2.5-acre farmland located in the Naiman District of Tongliao City, China ( 44°17' N; 121°29' E), where 5,000 acres of Fangfeng had been cultivated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPoult Sci
December 2024
College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Equipment Technology, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address:
Light is an important factor affecting the feather pecking behavior in poultry. To evaluate the quality of lighting in production of a local broiler breed, this study was designed to investigate the effects of light color on the growth performance (body weight, feed conversion ratio and upper beak length), welfare parameters (walking step, plumage damage and hormone level) relating to feather pecking and their correlations. One hundred and twenty 49-day-old Youhuang broilers were randomly distributed into 3 lighting treatment groups (warm white, cold white and red) and reared for 4 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbstractAt certain intensities and durations, environmental stressors during development can result in changes in physiology that prepare organisms for future stressful conditions. Such plasticity can allow organisms to maintain good condition when confronted with a poor environment, potentially conferring an advantage in fitness. However, the physiological changes underlying these adaptive phenotypic adjustments are understudied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Lett
November 2024
Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Almería 04120, Spain.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!