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Carotenoid-based coloration predicts both longevity and lifetime fecundity in male birds, but testosterone disrupts signal reliability.

ABSTRACT: Sexual selection promotes the evolution of conspicuous animal ornaments. To evolve as signals, these traits must reliably express the "quality" of the bearer, an indicator of individual fitness. Direct estimates of individual fitness may include the contribution of longevity and fecundity. However, evidence of a correlation between the level of signal expression and these two fitness components are scarce, at least among vertebrates. Relative fitness is difficult to assess in the wild as age at death and extra-pair paternity rates are often unknown. Here, in captive male red-legged partridges, we show that carotenoid-based ornament expression, i.e., redness of the bill and eye rings, at the beginning of reproductive life predicts both longevity (1-7 years) and lifetime breeding output (offspring number and hatching success). The recently proposed link between the individual capacity to produce red (keto) carotenoid pigments and the efficiency of cell respiration could, ultimately, explain the correlation with lifespan and, indirectly, fecundity. Nonetheless, in males of avian species, carotenoid-based coloration in bare parts is also partially controlled by testosterone. We also manipulated androgen levels throughout life by treating males with testosterone or antiandrogen compounds. Treatments caused correlations between signal levels and both fitness components to disappear, thus making the signals unreliable. This suggests that the evolution of carotenoid-based sexual signals requires a tightly-controlled steroid metabolism.

SUBMITTER: Cantarero A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6707625 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Carotenoid-based coloration predicts both longevity and lifetime fecundity in male birds, but testosterone disrupts signal reliability.

Cantarero Alejandro A Pérez-Rodríguez Lorenzo L Romero-Haro Ana Ángela AÁ Chastel Olivier O Alonso-Alvarez Carlos C

PloS one 20190823 8

Sexual selection promotes the evolution of conspicuous animal ornaments. To evolve as signals, these traits must reliably express the "quality" of the bearer, an indicator of individual fitness. Direct estimates of individual fitness may include the contribution of longevity and fecundity. However, evidence of a correlation between the level of signal expression and these two fitness components are scarce, at least among vertebrates. Relative fitness is difficult to assess in the wild as age at ...[more]

PMID: 31442265

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Project description:Among naturally occurring pigments, carotenoids are importantly involved in the photosynthesis of plants and responsible for the coloration of petals and fruits. Osmanthus fragrans Lour., a famous ornamental plant, has many cultivars with different flower color. Petal coloration in O. fragrans mainly depends on the kinds of carotenoids and their contents. To investigate the mechanism of flower coloration in different cultivars, an analysis of phenotypic classification, phytochemistry, as well as the expression of carotenoid metabolism genes based on different groups was performed in the present study. Two main clusters including the orange-red cluster containing Aurantiacus cultivars and the yellowish-white cluster containing the other three cultivar groups were classified using the CIEL?a?b? system. No significant differences in flavonoid contents were observed between these two clusters. However, carotenoids, especially ?-carotene and ?-carotene, were found to have crucial roles in the diversity of floral coloration among the different cultivars. Carotenoid compositions in the petals of cultivars from both clusters consisted of ?-carotene, ?-carotene, ?-cryptoxanthin, ?-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin, but carotenoid accumulation patterns during the flowering process were different. The petals of the yellowish-white cultivars exhibited high contents of ?-carotene, lutein and ?-carotene, whereas the petals of the orange-red cultivars mainly contained ?-carotene and ?-carotene. The profound diversity in the total carotenoid concentrations in the two clusters was determined by the transcript levels of OfCCD4. Furthermore, the accumulation of upstream products with orange color in orange-red cultivars was partially due to the low expression of OfCHYB, whereas the relatively higher OfCHYB expression in the petals of the yellowish-white cultivars led to higher proportions of lutein, which is yellow. We also found that downregulation of OfLCYE, which encodes ?-ring cyclase, indicated that the carotenoid flux of most cultivars mainly resulted in more ?, ?-branched products. Additionally, carotenoid biosynthesis in green tissues and petals was compared, revealing the tissue specificity of carotenoid accumulation in O. fragrans. Therefore, the effects of multiple genes on carotenoid accumulation give rise to the colorful O. fragrans.

Dataset Information

Carotenoid-based coloration predicts both longevity and lifetime fecundity in male birds, but testosterone disrupts signal reliability.

Publications

Carotenoid-based coloration predicts both longevity and lifetime fecundity in male birds, but testosterone disrupts signal reliability.

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