Oxidative stress does not influence carotenoid mobilization and plumage pigmentation
- 21 November 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
- Vol. 275 (1632), 309-314
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.1474
Abstract
Oxidative stress has been suggested to create a link between 'good genes' and carotenoid coloration via an allocation conflict between external pigmentation and internal antioxidant functions. However, although carotenoid displays have been extensively investigated, there are no experimental tests of the antioxidant efficiency of carotenoids in vivo. We induced oxidative stress in a small passerine (the great tit, Parus major) under both carotenoid deprivation and supplementation, and investigated the effect on carotenoid mobilization (i.e. plasma) and allocation (i.e. deposition in feather incorporation and liver storage). We found no effects of the stressor on either mobilization or allocation of carotenoids. These results reject the previously suggested superior role of carotenoid's function as antioxidant in vivo with important implications for signal content and honesty.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Carotenoid diet and nestling provisioning in urban and rural great tits Parus majorJournal of Avian Biology, 2007
- Toxicological assessment of ambient and traffic-related particulate matter: A review of recent studiesMutation Research, 2006
- Gaseous Air Pollutants and Hospitalization for Respiratory Disease in the Neonatal PeriodEnvironmental Health Perspectives, 2006
- Carotenoids modulate the trade-off between egg production and resistance to oxidative stress in zebra finchesOecologia, 2005
- Plasma Glutathione and Carotenoid Coloration as Potential Biomarkers of Environmental Stress in Great TitsEcohealth, 2005
- EFFECTS OF COMMON ORIGIN AND COMMON ENVIRONMENT ON NESTLING PLUMAGE COLORATION IN THE GREAT TIT (PARUS MAJOR)Evolution, 2003
- Ecological immunology: life history trade-offs and immune defense in birdsBehavioral Ecology, 2000
- Importance of Carotenoid Structure in Radical-Scavenging ReactionsJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 1997
- Ecological immunology: costly parasite defences and trade-offs in evolutionary ecologyTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 1996
- Parasites, Bright Males, and the Immunocompetence HandicapThe American Naturalist, 1992