Egg-laying increases body temperature to an annual maximum in a wild bird
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Guillemette M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8803923 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:During egg laying, females face a trade-off between self-maintenance and investment into current reproduction, since providing eggs with resources is energetically demanding, in particular if females lay one egg per day. However, the costs of egg laying not only relate to energetic requirements, but also depend on the availability of specific resources that are vital for egg production and embryonic development. One of these compounds are carotenoids, pigments with immuno-stimulatory properties, which are crucial during embryonic development. In this study, we explore how carotenoid availability alleviates this trade-off and facilitates egg laying in a small bird species, the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). Blue tits have among the largest clutch size of all European passerines and they usually lay one egg per day, although laying interruptions are frequent. We performed a lutein supplementation experiment and measured potential consequences for egg laying capacity and egg quality. We found that lutein-supplemented females had less laying interruptions and thus completed their clutch faster than control females. No effects of treatment were found on the onset of egg laying or clutch size. Experimentally enhanced carotenoid availability did not elevate yolk carotenoid levels or egg mass, but negatively affected eggshell thickness. Our results provide hence evidence on the limiting role of carotenoids during egg laying. However, the benefits of laying faster following lutein supplementation were counterbalanced by a lower accumulation of calcium in the eggshell. Thus, even though single components may constrain egg laying, it is the combined availability of a range of different resources which ultimately determines egg quality and thus embryonic development.
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Project description:It will help understand the representation legality of soil temperature to explore the correlations of soil respiration with variant properties of soil temperature. Soil temperature at 10 cm depth was hourly logged through twelve months. Basing on the measured soil temperature, soil respiration at different temporal scales were calculated using empirical functions for temperate forests. On monthly scale, soil respiration significantly correlated with maximum, minimum, mean and accumulated effective soil temperatures. Annual soil respiration varied from 409 g C m(-2) in coniferous forest to 570 g C m(-2) in mixed forest and to 692 g C m(-2) in broadleaved forest, and was markedly explained by mean soil temperatures of the warmest day, July and summer, separately. These three soil temperatures reflected the maximum values on diurnal, monthly and annual scales. In accordance with their higher temperatures, summer soil respiration accounted for 51% of annual soil respiration across forest types, and broadleaved forest also had higher soil organic carbon content (SOC) and soil microbial biomass carbon content (SMBC), but a lower contribution of SMBC to SOC. This added proof to the findings that maximum soil temperature may accelerate the transformation of SOC to CO2-C via stimulating activities of soil microorganisms.
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Project description:The egg-laying rates of hens approximately 470 days of age exhibited a positive correlation to blood melatonin levels. The hens with an egg-laying rate <30%, 30~90% and ?90% had blood melatonin levels of 5.8?±?2.6, 74.0?±?32.9 and 445.9?±?115.3?ng/ml, respectively. When 10?mg of melatonin was implanted into the hens at 300, 360, 470 and 550 days of age, the egg-laying rates increased 4.63?±?0.46%, 8.38?±?1.45%, 4.93?±?0.85% and 7.93?±?0.91%, respectively, compared to that of the controls. Melatonin implantation in hens at 300-470 days of age was observed to enhance egg production and reduce the rate of appearance of sharpei eggs. Melatonin (10?mg) implanted in hens 360 days of age did not influence the blood levels of progesterone (P4) or the gene expression levels of ovarian follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR), luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR), oestradiol receptor alpha (ER?), superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) or melatonin receptor 1 (MT1). In contrast, melatonin significantly elevated the serum oestradiol-17? (E2) content, down-regulated the gene expression of gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone receptor (GnIHR), and enhanced the expression of melatonin receptor 2 (MT2). This result indicates that the improved egg-laying rate by melatonin was the result of increased serum oestradiol and decreased ovarian GnIHR. These alterations may be mediated by MT2 activation.
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Project description:While an increasing number of studies indicate that the range, diversity and abundance of many wild pollinators has declined, the global area of pollinator-dependent crops has significantly increased over the last few decades. Crop pollination studies to date have mainly focused on either identifying different guilds pollinating various crops, or on factors driving spatial changes and turnover observed in these communities. The mechanisms driving temporal stability for ecosystem functioning and services, however, remain poorly understood. Our study quantifies temporal variability observed in crop pollinators in 21 different crops across multiple years at a global scale. Using data from 43 studies from six continents, we show that (i) higher pollinator diversity confers greater inter-annual stability in pollinator communities, (ii) temporal variation observed in pollinator abundance is primarily driven by the three-most dominant species, and (iii) crops in tropical regions demonstrate higher inter-annual variability in pollinator species richness than crops in temperate regions. We highlight the importance of recognizing wild pollinator diversity in agricultural landscapes to stabilize pollinator persistence across years to protect both biodiversity and crop pollination services. Short-term agricultural management practices aimed at dominant species for stabilizing pollination services need to be considered alongside longer term conservation goals focussed on maintaining and facilitating biodiversity to confer ecological stability.
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Project description:Because incubation by birds is energetically costly, parents frequently trade off investment in incubation against self-maintenance. This can be manifested by a reduction in incubation temperature, which comes at high somatic costs for nestlings. The extent to which these costs constrain fitness is poorly understood. We incubated wild blue tit clutches at three biologically relevant temperatures and subsequently recorded winter survival and survival to the breeding season. Fledglings from the coldest treatment (35.0°C) survived less well than other fledglings, but the proportion of winter and breeding survivors did not differ significantly between treatments. However, survival probability in both seasons increased with body mass at fledging in birds from low and mid incubation temperatures, but decreased with fledging body mass in the high-temperature treatment. Mid-temperature nestlings were heavier as adults, weighing 7% more than low- and high-temperature survivors. Thus, high incubation temperature can be beneficial in the short term, but costs of accelerated embryonic development may equal those of protracted development in the long term. Such hidden consequences of faster development could maintain natural selection for average incubation temperature.
| S-EPMC4881354 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSoya saponin (SS), an active compound in soybean meals, has been widely studied in the medical field. However, it was considered as an anti-nutritional factor in poultry diets. The objective of this experiment was to measure the effects of dietary SS using three dietary treatments on egg-laying performance and immune function of laying hens. Birds were fed a low soybean meal basal diet (CON), a low-SS diet (50 SS) containing 50 mg/kg SS, or a high-SS diet (500 SS) containing 500 mg/kg SS for 10 weeks. At the end of the 5th and 10th week of the trial, samples were collected for analysis.ResultsResults showed that with 50 mg/kg SS supplementation, the egg production rate, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and eggshell quality tended to be improved. Serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and Interleukin-4 (IL-4) levels were also elevated as well as the peripheral blood LPS stimulation index, the proportion of B lymphocytes, and antibody titer of bovine serum albumin (BSA). We also found that mRNA levels of follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) in ovarian, nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-κB), Transforming growth factor (TGF-β) and interferon γ (IFN-γ) in spleen were up-regulated at the end of the trial. Additionally, dietary 50 mg/kg SS improved the ileal flora via up-regulating the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, Romboutsia and Lactobacillus delbrueckii. Although the immune related indicators were improved with 500 mg/kg SS supplemented, it seemed to have a negative influence on the laying-performance. Specifically, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and the ratio of IFN-γ to IL-4 were increased in the 500 SS group at the end of the trial. The mRNA levels of gonadotropin releasing hormone 1 (GnRH1) in Hypothalamus, the estrogen related receptor (ERR) in ovaries were downregulated as well as the egg production rate during the trial with 500 mg/kg SS supplemented.ConclusionsThe egg production performance was improved by dietary supplemented with 50 mg/kg SS via increasing ovarian FSHR transcription level and serum estrogen level. A beneficial shift in intestinal microflora was recorded, and the immune function of laying hens was also improved with 50 mg/kg SS supplementation. Surprisingly, the long-term supplementation of 500 mg/kg SS exerted a negative impact on the laying performance and physiological functions of the liver of laying hens.
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Project description:Egg-laying performance is one of the most important economic traits in the poultry industry. Commercial layers can lay one egg almost every day during their peak-laying period. However, many Chinese indigenous chicken breeds show a relatively low egg-laying rate, even during their peak-laying period. To understand what makes the difference in egg production, we compared the hypothalamus transcriptome profiles of Lushi blue-shelled-egg chickens (LBS), a Chinese indigenous breed with low egg-laying rate and Rhode Island Red chickens (RIR), a commercial layer with relatively high egg-laying rate using RNA-seq. A total of 753 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained. Of these DEGs, 38 genes were enriched in 2 Gene Ontology (GO) terms, namely reproduction term and the reproductive process term, and 6 KEGG pathways, namely Wnt signaling pathway, Oocyte meiosis, GnRH signaling pathway, Thyroid hormone signaling pathway, Thyroid hormone synthesis and MAPK signaling pathway, which have been long known to be involved in egg production regulation. To further determine the core genes from the 38 DEGs, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, co-expression network and transcriptional regulatory network analyses were carried out. After integrated analysis and experimental validation, 4 core genes including RAC1, MRE11A, MAP7 and SOX5 were identified as the potential core genes that are responsible for the laying-rate difference between the 2 breeds. These findings paved the way for future investigating the mechanism of egg-laying regulation and enriched the chicken reproductive regulation theory.
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Project description:Incubation starts during egg laying for many bird species and causes developmental asynchrony within clutches. Faster development of late-laid eggs can help reduce developmental differences and synchronize hatching, which is important for precocial species whose young must leave the nest soon after hatching. In this study, we examined the effect of egg laying sequence on length of the incubation period in Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa). Because incubation temperature strongly influences embryonic development rates, we tested the interactive effects of laying sequence and incubation temperature on the ability of late-laid eggs to accelerate development and synchronize hatching. We also examined the potential cost of faster development on duckling body condition. Fresh eggs were collected and incubated at three biologically relevant temperatures (Low: 34.9°C, Medium: 35.8°C, and High: 37.6°C), and egg laying sequences from 1 to 12 were used. Length of the incubation period declined linearly as laying sequence advanced, but the relationship was strongest at medium temperatures followed by low temperatures and high temperatures. There was little support for including fresh egg mass in models of incubation period. Estimated differences in length of the incubation period between eggs 1 and 12 were 2.7 d, 1.2 d, and 0.7 d at medium, low and high temperatures, respectively. Only at intermediate incubation temperatures did development rates of late-laid eggs increase sufficiently to completely compensate for natural levels of developmental asynchrony that have been reported in Wood Duck clutches at the start of full incubation. Body condition of ducklings was strongly affected by fresh egg mass and incubation temperature but declined only slightly as laying sequence progressed. Our findings show that laying sequence and incubation temperature play important roles in helping to shape embryo development and hatching synchrony in a precocial bird.
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