Carotenoid Plasma Concentration, Immune Profile, and Plumage Ornamentation of Male Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica)

@article{Saino1999CarotenoidPC,
  title={Carotenoid Plasma Concentration, Immune Profile, and Plumage Ornamentation of Male Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica)},
  author={Nicola Saino and Riccardo Stradi and Paola Ninni and Elena Pini and Anders Pape M{\o}ller},
  journal={The American Naturalist},
  year={1999},
  volume={154},
  pages={441 - 448}
}
Carotenoids exert immunomodulating, immunostimulating, and antioxidant actions in mammals and are major determinants of coloration in animals. Honest advertisement models of sexual selection propose that male ornaments, including coloration, are reliable indicators of male quality. Because of their simultaneous effects on male coloration and immunity, carotenoids might mediate the hypothesized relationship between the expression of epigamic coloration and parasitism in vertebrates. We analyzed… 
View on U Chicago Press
georgealozano.com
91 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
6
Background Citations
41
Methods Citations
10
Results Citations
9

91 Citations

Sex differences in carotenoid status and immune performance in zebra finches

It appears that shunting carotenoids to the humoral arm of the immune system – perhaps a more costly yet more effective means of fighting off pathogens – may take priority over elevating cell-mediated immunity in both sexes.

DIET, PLASMA CAROTENOIDS, AND SEXUAL COLORATION IN THE ZEBRA FINCH (TAENIOPYGIA GUTTATA)

Results suggest that physiological factors such as pigment transport may play a more important role in shaping variability in carotenoid-based bill coloration in this species than does diet.

Carotenoids, sexual signals and immune function in barn swallows from Chernobyl

It is suggested that the reliable signalling function of secondary sexual characters breaks down under extreme environmental conditions, no longer providing reliable information about the health status of males.

Dietary carotenoid pigments and immune function in a songbird with extensive carotenoid-based plumage coloration

The hypothesis that songbirds with extensive carotenoid-based plumage displays trade off the use of carotanoid pigments for ornamentation versus immune function is not supported.

Fat soluble antioxidants in brood-rearing great tits Parus major: relations to health and appearance

Investigation of plasma concentrations of carotenoid-based plumage coloration, sex, habitat, leukocyte hemoconcentrations and infection status with Haemoproteus blood parasites in brood-rearing great tits found results consistent with the idea that maintenance of high blood antioxidant levels might conflict with individual needs to rely on oxidative stress for fighting infections.

Carotenoids, colour and conservation in an endangered passerine, the hihi or stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta)

There were clear differences in total carotenoid concentrations and plumage colour among the three populations, and the yellow plumage of males was significantly higher in both reintroduced populations in comparison with the remnant population.

Carotenoid concentration in barn swallow eggs is influenced by laying order, maternal infection and paternal ornamentation

In this study of maternal allocation of carotenoids to the eggs in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), females whose immune system had been experimentally challenged with an antigen had smaller lutein concentrations in their eggs than controls, while mates of tail–shortened males had a larger lutenin concentration in their egg compared with those of control and tail–elongated males.

Carotenoid-based plumage coloration reflects hemoparasite infection and local survival in breeding great tits

Investigating the ventral, yellow coloration of breeding adult great tits in relation to sex, age, breeding habitat, local survival and infection status with respect to Haemoproteus blood parasites suggests that carotenoid-based plumage coloration serves as a signal reflecting individual quality in terms of health status and local survival.

Carotenoid and melanin-based ornaments signal similar aspects of male quality in two populations of the common yellowthroat

Examining the signalling function of male plumage ornaments in a warbler, the common yellowthroat, breeding in New York (NY) and Wisconsin (WI), USA, found that brightness of the yellow bib was the best signal of humoral immunity in NY and mask size was thebest signal in WI, after controlling for breeding experience and capture date.

Egg carotenoids in passerine birds introduced to New Zealand: relations to ecological factors, integument coloration and phylogeny

Investigation of maternally derived carotenoid concentrations and balances in the yolks of eight European passerine species successfully introduced and abundant in New Zealand concludes that variability in the concentration and balance of carOTenoids deposited in the egg yolk imply different relative roles for ecological and phylogenetic factors that warrant further investigation.
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 47 REFERENCES

Influence of dietary carotenoids on plasma and plumage colour in the house finch: intra- and intersexual variation

To test the hypothesis that variation in carotenoid pigmentation of feathers is caused by processes that occur before the uptake ofcarotenoids by follicle cells during moult, the hues of blood plasma and growing feathers were compared in three populations of house finches that differed in median male plumage brightness.

Immunocompetence, ornamentation, and viability of male barn swallows (Hirundo rustica).

The results of this study are the first to demonstrate that immunocompetence can predict long-term survival in a free-ranging vertebrate and are compatible with current models of parasite-mediated sexual selection.

Melanin–based plumage coloration in the house finch is unaffected by coccidial infection

  • G. HillW. Brawner
  • Biology
    Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
  • 1998
Coccidial infection of the intestinal tract of male house finches during moult had a significant negative effect on carotenoid–based coloration, but it had no significant effect on melanin–based feather coloration.

Sexual dichromatism and the immunocompetence handicap: an observational approach using Arctic charr

It is shown that expression of red coloration in the salmonid Arctic charr is a sexually dimorphic character that reveals information of potential importance in sexual selection.

Carotenoids in bird plumage—I. The carotenoid pattern in a series of palearctic carduelinae

Carotenoids, parasites, and sexual selection

Carotenoids are currently recognized not only as an essential part of a normal diet, but also as free radical scavengers as well as potential prophylactics against cancer and stimulants of the immune system.

Proximate basis of variation in carotenoid pigmentation in male house finches

Captive males converged on a similar appearance after completing prebasic molt on a standardized diet, with significantly less variance in coloration than is found among wild males, and there was a significant positive correlation between patch size and plumage brightness.

Role of carotenoids in the immune response.

  • B. Chew
  • Biology, Medicine
    Journal of dairy science
  • 1993
The immunostimulatory action of carotenoids may be translated into improved health, including mammary and reproductive health in dairy cattle, and more studies are needed to establish fully the beneficial effects of supplementation of different carOTenoids on the health of dairy cattle.

Carotenoids and Sexual Dichromatism in North American Passerine Birds

The relationship between sexual dichromatism and the use of carotenoids in plumage suggests that sexual selection may have promoted the expression of a condition-dependent honest indicator of phenotypic quality.

Plumage coloration is a sexually selected indicator of male quality

Results of field studies indicate that females prefer to mate with colourful males and that plumage brightness correlates with a male's capactity for parental care and perhaps its genotypic quality.