Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrows
Abstract Whether melanin-based plumage colouration accurately reflects a bird’s quality is still controversial. To better understand potential mechanisms behind the observed variation in plumage colouration, we shifted our attention from a high-level expression of colour to low-level physiological p...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21811-2 |
| _version_ | 1811329106686509056 |
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| author | Agnieszka Gudowska Katarzyna Janas Justyna Wieczorek Olga Woznicka Przemysław M. Płonka Szymon M. Drobniak |
| author_facet | Agnieszka Gudowska Katarzyna Janas Justyna Wieczorek Olga Woznicka Przemysław M. Płonka Szymon M. Drobniak |
| author_sort | Agnieszka Gudowska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Whether melanin-based plumage colouration accurately reflects a bird’s quality is still controversial. To better understand potential mechanisms behind the observed variation in plumage colouration, we shifted our attention from a high-level expression of colour to low-level physiological phenomena by targeting the microstructure and pigment content of the feather. In a well-studied model system, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), we combined an experimental manipulation of birds’ physiological condition and availability of resources that are key to the production of the studied colouration (phenylalanine and tyrosine (PT). We found that feathers from sparrows fed with the control diet had noticeably lower values of brightness, suggesting a higher quality of the ornamental “blackness” in comparison to those sampled from birds fed with a PT-reduced diet. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy detected higher melanin concentrations in samples from the control than the PT-reduced group. Our multi-level analysis excluded mechanisms such as barbule density and melanosomes’ distribution, clearly pointing to the finest-level proxy of colour: the concentration of melanin in melanosomes themselves. Despite melanins being manufactured by birds endogenously, the efficiency of melanogenesis can be noticeably limited by diet. As a result, the birds’ plumage colouration is affected, which may entail consequences in social signalling. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:38:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c4ea2663b00f4631979fa670c9721958 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:38:02Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-c4ea2663b00f4631979fa670c97219582022-12-22T02:41:14ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-0112111010.1038/s41598-022-21811-2Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrowsAgnieszka Gudowska0Katarzyna Janas1Justyna Wieczorek2Olga Woznicka3Przemysław M. Płonka4Szymon M. Drobniak5Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian UniversityMuseum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of SciencesDepartment of Biophysics and Cancer Biology, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian UniversityDepartment of Cell Biology and Imaging, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian UniversityDepartment of Biophysics and Cancer Biology, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian UniversityInstitute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian UniversityAbstract Whether melanin-based plumage colouration accurately reflects a bird’s quality is still controversial. To better understand potential mechanisms behind the observed variation in plumage colouration, we shifted our attention from a high-level expression of colour to low-level physiological phenomena by targeting the microstructure and pigment content of the feather. In a well-studied model system, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), we combined an experimental manipulation of birds’ physiological condition and availability of resources that are key to the production of the studied colouration (phenylalanine and tyrosine (PT). We found that feathers from sparrows fed with the control diet had noticeably lower values of brightness, suggesting a higher quality of the ornamental “blackness” in comparison to those sampled from birds fed with a PT-reduced diet. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy detected higher melanin concentrations in samples from the control than the PT-reduced group. Our multi-level analysis excluded mechanisms such as barbule density and melanosomes’ distribution, clearly pointing to the finest-level proxy of colour: the concentration of melanin in melanosomes themselves. Despite melanins being manufactured by birds endogenously, the efficiency of melanogenesis can be noticeably limited by diet. As a result, the birds’ plumage colouration is affected, which may entail consequences in social signalling.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21811-2 |
| spellingShingle | Agnieszka Gudowska Katarzyna Janas Justyna Wieczorek Olga Woznicka Przemysław M. Płonka Szymon M. Drobniak Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrows Scientific Reports |
| title | Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrows |
| title_full | Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrows |
| title_fullStr | Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrows |
| title_short | Canalised and plastic components of melanin-based colouration: a diet-manipulation experiment in house sparrows |
| title_sort | canalised and plastic components of melanin based colouration a diet manipulation experiment in house sparrows |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21811-2 |
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