Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects?
Maternally derived traits, such as within-clutch variation in the amount of testosterone deposited in egg yolks, may have profound effects on offspring fitness. Offspring with elevated levels of testosterone may benefit from increased competitive ability through effects on aggression and growth rate...
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2001
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:beheco:12/4/381 2023-05-15T17:07:54+02:00 Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? Royle, N. J. Surai, P. F. Hartley, I. R. 2001-07-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/12/4/381 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/12.4.381 en eng Oxford University Press http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/12/4/381 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/12.4.381 Copyright (C) 2001, International Society for Behavioral Ecology Articles TEXT 2001 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/12.4.381 2016-11-16T17:23:38Z Maternally derived traits, such as within-clutch variation in the amount of testosterone deposited in egg yolks, may have profound effects on offspring fitness. Offspring with elevated levels of testosterone may benefit from increased competitive ability through effects on aggression and growth rate. However, elevated levels of testosterone are also associated with costs of increased peroxidative damage from free radicals and consequent oxidative stress. Diet-derived antioxidants, such as vitamin E and various carotenoids, provide protection against the deleterious effects of oxidative stress. Here we show that within-clutch variation in yolk testosterone is the opposite to that of yolk antioxidant concentration in the lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus . We provide evidence that suggests that these two direct maternal effects are, in fact, complementary and, in conjunction with an indirect maternal effect (the onset of incubation), may provide an adaptive mechanism for parental favoritism in response to environmental variability. The potential implications of these findings with respect to previous investigations on variation in yolk testosterone concentrations and on the understanding of intrafamilial dynamics are discussed. Text Lesser black-backed gull HighWire Press (Stanford University) Behavioral Ecology 12 4 381 385 |
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HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
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English |
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Articles |
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Articles Royle, N. J. Surai, P. F. Hartley, I. R. Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? |
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Articles |
description |
Maternally derived traits, such as within-clutch variation in the amount of testosterone deposited in egg yolks, may have profound effects on offspring fitness. Offspring with elevated levels of testosterone may benefit from increased competitive ability through effects on aggression and growth rate. However, elevated levels of testosterone are also associated with costs of increased peroxidative damage from free radicals and consequent oxidative stress. Diet-derived antioxidants, such as vitamin E and various carotenoids, provide protection against the deleterious effects of oxidative stress. Here we show that within-clutch variation in yolk testosterone is the opposite to that of yolk antioxidant concentration in the lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus . We provide evidence that suggests that these two direct maternal effects are, in fact, complementary and, in conjunction with an indirect maternal effect (the onset of incubation), may provide an adaptive mechanism for parental favoritism in response to environmental variability. The potential implications of these findings with respect to previous investigations on variation in yolk testosterone concentrations and on the understanding of intrafamilial dynamics are discussed. |
format |
Text |
author |
Royle, N. J. Surai, P. F. Hartley, I. R. |
author_facet |
Royle, N. J. Surai, P. F. Hartley, I. R. |
author_sort |
Royle, N. J. |
title |
Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? |
title_short |
Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? |
title_full |
Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? |
title_fullStr |
Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? |
title_sort |
maternally derived androgens and antioxidants in bird eggs: complementary but opposing effects? |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/12/4/381 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/12.4.381 |
genre |
Lesser black-backed gull |
genre_facet |
Lesser black-backed gull |
op_relation |
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/12/4/381 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/12.4.381 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2001, International Society for Behavioral Ecology |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/12.4.381 |
container_title |
Behavioral Ecology |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
381 |
op_container_end_page |
385 |
_version_ |
1766063424582713344 |