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Ecdysteroids are present in the blood of wild passerine birds.

ABSTRACT: Ecdysteroids (arthropod molting hormones) play an important role in the development and sexual maturation of arthropods, and they have been shown to have anabolic and "energizing" effect in higher vertebrates. The aim of this study was to assess ecdysteroid diversity, levels according to bird species and months, as well as to observe the molting status of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting the birds. Therefore, blood samples and ticks were collected from 245 birds (244 songbirds and a quail). Mass spectrometric analyses showed that 15 ecdysteroids were regularly present in the blood samples. Molting hormones biologically most active in insects (including 20-hydroxyecdysone [20E], 2deoxy-20E, ajugasterone C and dacryhainansterone) reached different levels of concentration according to bird species and season. Similarly to ecdysteroids, the seasonal presence of affected, apolytic ticks peaked in July and August. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the presence of a broad range and high concentrations of ecdysteroids in the blood stream of wild-living passerine birds. These biologically active, anabolic compounds might possibly contribute to the known high metabolic rate of songbirds.

SUBMITTER: Hornok S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6861316 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ecdysteroids are present in the blood of wild passerine birds.

Hornok Sándor S Csorba Attila A Kováts Dávid D Csörgő Tibor T Hunyadi Attila A

Scientific reports 20191118 1

Ecdysteroids (arthropod molting hormones) play an important role in the development and sexual maturation of arthropods, and they have been shown to have anabolic and "energizing" effect in higher vertebrates. The aim of this study was to assess ecdysteroid diversity, levels according to bird species and months, as well as to observe the molting status of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting the birds. Therefore, blood samples and ticks were collected from 245 birds (244 songbirds and a quail) ...[more]

PMID: 31740690

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Immunoecology aims to explain variation among hosts in the strength and efficacy of immunological defences in natural populations. This requires development of biomarkers of the activation of the immune system so that they can be collected non-lethally and sampled from small amounts of easily obtainable tissue. We used transcriptome profiling in wild greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) to detect whole blood transcripts that most profoundly indicate upregulation of antimicrobial defences during acute phase response. The more general aim of this study was to obtain a functional annotation of a substantial portion of the greenfinch transcriptome that would enable to gain access to more specific genomic tools in subsequent studies. The birds received either bacterial lipopolysaccharide or saline injections and RNA-seq transcriptional profiling was performed 12 h after treatment to provide initial functional annotation of the transcriptome and assess whole blood response to immune stimulation. RESULTS: A total of 66,084 transcripts were obtained from de novo Trinty assembly, out of which 23,153 could be functionally annotated. Only 1,911 of these were significantly upregulated or downregulated. The manipulation caused marked upregulation of several transcripts related to immune activation. These included avian-specific antimicrobial agents avidin and gallinacin, but also some more general host response genes, such as serum amyloid A protein, lymphocyte antigen 75 and copper-transporting ATPase 1. However, links with avian immunity for most differentially regulated transcripts remained rather hypothetical, as a large set of differentially expressed transcripts lacked functional annotation. CONCLUSIONS: This appears to be the first large scale transcriptional profiling of immune function in passerine birds. The transcriptomic data obtained suggest novel markers for the assessment of the immunological state of wild passerines. Characterizing the function of those possible novel infection markers would assist future vertebrate genome annotation. The extensive sequence information collected enables to identify possible target and housekeeping genes needed to gain access to more specific genomic tools in future studies.

Dataset Information

Ecdysteroids are present in the blood of wild passerine birds.

Publications

Ecdysteroids are present in the blood of wild passerine birds.

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