Oxidative damage to DNA related to survivorship and carotenoid-based sexual ornamentation in the common yellowthroat.
Carotenoid-based sexual ornaments are hypothesized to be reliable signals of male quality, based on an allocation trade-off between the use of carotenoids as pigments and their use in antioxidant defence against reactive oxygen species. Carotenoids appear to be poor antioxidants in vivo, however, and it is not clear whether variation in ornament expression is correlated with measures of oxidative stress (OXS) under natural conditions. We used single-cell gel electrophoresis to assay oxidative damage to erythrocyte DNA in the common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), a sexually dichromatic warbler in which sexual selection favours components of the males' yellow 'bib'. We found that the level of DNA damage sustained by males predicted their overwinter survivorship and was reflected in the quality of their plumage. Males with brighter yellow bibs showed lower levels of DNA damage, both during the year the plumage was sampled (such that yellow brightness signalled current OXS) and during the previous year (such that yellow brightness signalled past OXS). We suggest that carotenoid-based ornaments can convey information about OXS to prospective mates and that further work exploring the proximate mechanism(s) linking OXS to coloration is warranted.
Department of Biology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA.
Corey R
CR
Freeman-Gallant
Joel
J
Amidon
Brittany
B
Berdy
Stephanie
S
Wein
Conor C
CC
Taff
Mark F
MF
Haussmann
D000818:Animals; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000378:metabolism*; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010858:Pigmentation; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D020308:Songbirds / Q000378:metabolism*
D002338:Carotenoids
Biol Lett. 2007 Aug 22;3(4):353-6
17472903
Evolution. 2010 Apr 1;64(4):1007-17
19863585
Mutat Res. 2009 Jan-Feb;681(1):24-32
18054270
Proc Biol Sci. 2007 Mar 22;274(1611):819-25
17251089
Proc Biol Sci. 2009 Jun 7;276(1664):2093-101
19324780
J Exp Biol. 2010 Jan 15;213(2):271-7
20038661
Proc Biol Sci. 2008 Feb 7;275(1632):309-14
18029305
J Evol Biol. 2003 Nov;16(6):1065-76
14640398
J Anim Ecol. 2007 Nov;76(6):1161-8
17922712
Proc Biol Sci. 2009 Mar 22;276(1659):1093-100
19129122
Proc Biol Sci. 1999 Jan 7;266(1414):1-12
10081154
Am Nat. 2003 Dec;162(6):704-12
14737708
Ecol Lett. 2009 Jan;12(1):75-92
19016828
J Evol Biol. 2010 Apr;23(4):769-75
20149019