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Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and individual quality.

ABSTRACT: Thirty years of research has made carotenoid coloration a textbook example of an honest signal of individual quality, but tests of this idea are surprisingly inconsistent. Here, to investigate sources of this heterogeneity, we perform meta-analyses of published studies on the relationship between carotenoid-based feather coloration and measures of individual quality. To create color displays, animals use either carotenoids unchanged from dietary components or carotenoids that they biochemically convert before deposition. We hypothesize that converted carotenoids better reflect individual quality because of the physiological links between cellular function and carotenoid metabolism. We show that feather coloration is an honest signal of some, but not all, measures of quality. Where these relationships exist, we show that converted, but not dietary, carotenoid coloration drives the relationship. Our results have broad implications for understanding the evolutionary role of carotenoid coloration and the physiological mechanisms that maintain signal honesty of animal ornamental traits.

SUBMITTER: Weaver RJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5758789 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and individual quality.

Weaver Ryan J RJ Santos Eduardo S A ESA Tucker Anna M AM Wilson Alan E AE Hill Geoffrey E GE

Nature communications 20180108 1

Thirty years of research has made carotenoid coloration a textbook example of an honest signal of individual quality, but tests of this idea are surprisingly inconsistent. Here, to investigate sources of this heterogeneity, we perform meta-analyses of published studies on the relationship between carotenoid-based feather coloration and measures of individual quality. To create color displays, animals use either carotenoids unchanged from dietary components or carotenoids that they biochemically ...[more]

PMID: 29311592

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Project description:5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) plays an important role in plant growth and development. It can also be used to enhance crop resistance to environmental stresses and improve the color and internal quality of fruits. However, there are limited reports regarding the effects of ALA on tomato fruit color and its regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, in this study, the effects of exogenous ALA on the quality and coloration of tomato fruits were examined. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum "Yuanwei No. 1") fruit surfaces were treated with different concentrations of ALA (0, 100, and 200 mg⋅L-1) on the 24th day after fruit setting (mature green fruit stage), and the content of soluble sugar, titratable acid, soluble protein, vitamin C, and total free amino acids, as well as amino acid components, intermediates of lycopene synthetic and metabolic pathways, and ALA metabolic pathway derivatives were determined during fruit ripening. The relative expression levels of genes involved in lycopene synthesis and metabolism and those involved in ALA metabolism were also analyzed. The results indicated that exogenous ALA (200 mg⋅L-1) increased the contents of soluble sugars, soluble proteins, total free amino acids, and vitamin C as well as 11 kinds of amino acid components in tomato fruits and reduced the content of titratable acids, thus improving the quality of tomato fruits harvested 4 days earlier than those of the control plants. In addition, exogenous ALA markedly improved carotenoid biosynthesis by upregulating the gene expression levels of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase, phytoene synthase 1, phytoene desaturase, and lycopene β-cyclase. Furthermore, exogenous ALA inhibited chlorophyll synthesis by downregulating the genes expression levels of Mg-chelatase and protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase. These findings suggest that supplementation with 200 mg⋅L-1 ALA not only enhances the nutritional quality and color of the fruit but also promotes early fruit maturation in tomato.

Dataset Information

Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and individual quality.

Publications

Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and individual quality.

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