Dataset Information

Higher flight activity in the offspring of migrants compared to residents in a migratory insect.

ABSTRACT: Migration has evolved among many animal taxa and migratory species are found across all major lineages. Insects are the most abundant and diverse terrestrial migrants, with trillions of animals migrating annually. Partial migration, where populations consist of resident and migratory individuals, is ubiquitous among many taxa. However, the underlying mechanisms are relatively poorly understood and may be driven by physiological, behavioural or genetic variation within populations. We investigated the differences in migratory tendency between migratory and resident phenotypes of the hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, using tethered flight mills. Further, to test whether migratory flight behaviour is heritable and to disentangle the effects of environment during development, we compared the flight behaviour of laboratory-reared offspring of migrating, overwintering and summer animals. Offspring of migrants initiated more flights than those of resident individuals. Interestingly, there were no differences among wild-caught phenotypes with regard to number of flights or total flight duration. Low activity in field-collected migrants might be explained by an energy-conserving state that migrants enter into when under laboratory conditions, or a lack of suitable environmental cues for triggering migration. Our results strongly suggest that flight behaviour is heritable and that genetic factors influence migratory tendency in E. balteatus These findings support the growing evidence that genetic factors play a role in partial migration and warrant careful further investigation.

SUBMITTER: Dallenbach LJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6030531 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Higher flight activity in the offspring of migrants compared to residents in a migratory insect.

Dällenbach Laura J LJ Glauser Alexandra A Lim Ka S KS Chapman Jason W JW Menz Myles H M MHM

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20180601 1881

Migration has evolved among many animal taxa and migratory species are found across all major lineages. Insects are the most abundant and diverse terrestrial migrants, with trillions of animals migrating annually. Partial migration, where populations consist of resident and migratory individuals, is ubiquitous among many taxa. However, the underlying mechanisms are relatively poorly understood and may be driven by physiological, behavioural or genetic variation within populations. We investigate ...[more]

PMID: 29925611

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Project description:Synopsis Ecologically relevant factors such as exercise and diet quality can directly influence how physiological systems work including those involved in maintaining oxidative balance; however, to our knowledge, no studies to date have focused on how such factors directly affect expression of key components of the endogenous antioxidant system (i.e., transcription factors, select antioxidant genes, and corresponding antioxidant enzymes) in several metabolically active tissues of a migratory songbird. We conducted a three-factor experiment that tested the following hypotheses: (H1) Daily flying over several weeks increases the expression of transcription factors NRF2 and PPARs as well as endogenous antioxidant genes (i.e., CAT, SOD1, SOD2, GPX1, GPX4), and upregulates endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities (i.e., CAT, SOD, GPx). (H2) Songbirds fed diets composed of more 18:2n-6 PUFA are more susceptible to oxidative damage and thus upregulate their endogenous antioxidant system compared with when fed diets with less PUFA. (H3) Songbirds fed dietary anthocyanins gain additional antioxidant protection and thus upregulate their endogenous antioxidant system less compared with songbirds not fed anthocyanins. Flight training increased the expression of 3 of the 6 antioxidant genes and transcription factors measured in the liver, consistent with H1, but for only one gene (SOD2) in the pectoralis. Dietary fat quality had no effect on antioxidant pathways (H2), whereas dietary anthocyanins increased the expression of select antioxidant enzymes in the pectoralis, but not in the liver (H3). These tissue-specific differences in response to flying and dietary antioxidants are likely explained by functional differences between tissues as well as fundamental differences in their turnover rates. The consumption of dietary antioxidants along with regular flying enables birds during migration to stimulate the expression of genes involved in antioxidant protection likely through increasing the transcriptional activity of NRF2 and PPARs, and thereby demonstrates for the first time that these relevant ecological factors affect the regulation of key antioxidant pathways in wild birds. What remains to be demonstrated is how the extent of these ecological factors (i.e., intensity or duration of flight, amounts of dietary antioxidants) influences the regulation of these antioxidant pathways and thus oxidative balance.

Dataset Information

Higher flight activity in the offspring of migrants compared to residents in a migratory insect.

Publications

Higher flight activity in the offspring of migrants compared to residents in a migratory insect.

Similar Datasets

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