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Lamarre J, Cheema SK, Robertson GJ, Wilson DR. Omega-3 fatty acids accelerate fledging in an avian marine predator: a potential role of cognition. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb.235929. [PMID: 33462136 PMCID: PMC7929930 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.235929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Consuming omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) during development improves cognition in mammals, but the effect remains untested in other taxa. In aquatic ecosystems, n-3 LCPUFAs are produced by phytoplankton and bioaccumulate in the food web. Alarmingly, the warming and acidification of aquatic systems caused by climate change impair n-3 LCPUFA production, with an anticipated decrease of 80% by the year 2100. We tested whether n-3 LCPUFA consumption affects the physiology, morphology, behaviour and cognition of the chicks of a top marine predator, the ring-billed gull. Using a colony with little access to n-3 LCPUFAs, we supplemented siblings from 22 fenced nests with contrasting treatments from hatching until fledging; one sibling received n-3 LCPUFA-rich fish oil and the other, a control sucrose solution without n-3 LCPUFAs. Halfway through the nestling period, half the chicks receiving fish oil were switched to the sucrose solution to test whether n-3 LCPUFA intake remains crucial past the main growth phase (chronic versus transient treatments). Upon fledging, n-3 LCPUFAs were elevated in the blood and brains of chicks receiving the chronic treatment, but were comparable to control levels among those receiving the transient treatment. Across the entire sample, chicks with elevated n-3 LCPUFAs in their tissues fledged earlier despite their morphology and activity levels being unrelated to fledging age. Fledging required chicks to escape fences encircling their nest. We therefore interpret fledging age as a possible indicator of cognition, with chicks with improved cognition fledging earlier. These results provide insight into whether declining dietary n-3 LCPUFAs will compromise top predators' problem-solving skills, and thus their ability to survive in a rapidly changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessika Lamarre
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL, Canada, A1B 3X9
| | - Sukhinder Kaur Cheema
- Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL, Canada, A1B 3X9
| | - Gregory J Robertson
- Wildlife Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Mount Pearl, NL, Canada, A1N 4T3
| | - David R Wilson
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL, Canada, A1B 3X9
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2
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Brun A, Magallanes ME, Karasov WH, Caviedes-Vidal E. Rapid and parallel changes in activity and mRNA of intestinal peptidase to match altered dietary protein levels in juvenile house sparrows ( Passer domesticus). J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb234708. [PMID: 33288529 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.234708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Although dietary flexibility in digestive enzyme activity (i.e. reaction rate) is widespread in vertebrates, mechanisms are poorly understood. When laboratory rats are switched to a higher protein diet, the activities of apical intestinal peptidases increase within 15 h, in some cases by rapid increase in enzyme transcription followed by rapid translation and translocation to the intestine's apical, brush-border membrane (BBM). Focusing on aminopeptidase-N (APN), we studied intestinal digestive enzyme flexibility in birds, relying on activity and mRNA data from the same animals. Our model was nestling house sparrows (Passer domesticus), already known to modulate intestinal peptidase activity when switching between lower and higher protein diets. Twenty-four hours after a switch from an adequate, lower protein diet to a higher protein diet, APN activity was increased in both whole intestinal tissue homogenates and in isolated BBM, but not at 12 h post-diet switch. Twenty-four hours after a reverse switch back to the lower protein diet, APN activity was decreased, but not at 12 h post-diet switch. Changes in APN activity in both diet switch experiments were associated with parallel changes in APN mRNA. Although transcriptional changes seem to be an important mechanism underlying dietary modulation of intestinal peptidase in both nestling house sparrows and laboratory rodents, the time course for modulation in nestlings seemed slower (taking approximately twice as long) compared with laboratory rodents. It may be ecologically advantageous if nestlings biochemically restructure their gut in response to a sustained increase in insects and protein intake rather than one or a few lucky insect meals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Brun
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
- Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
| | - Melisa E Magallanes
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
| | - William H Karasov
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Enrique Caviedes-Vidal
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
- Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Departamento de Biología, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
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3
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Griego M, DeSimone J, Ramirez MG, Gerson AR. Aminopeptidase-N modulation assists lean mass anabolism during refuelling in the white-throated sparrow. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202348. [PMID: 33468011 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Songbirds meet the extreme metabolic demands of migration by burning both stored fat and protein. However, catabolizing these endogenous tissues for energy leads to organ atrophy, and reductions in gastrointestinal tissue can be as great as 50% of the pre-flight mass. Remarkably, during stopover refuelling birds quickly regain digestive mass and performance. Aminopeptidase-N (APN) is a brush-border enzyme responsible for late-stage protein digestion and may critically assist tissue reconstruction during the stopover, thus compensating for reduced gut size. We hypothesized that birds recovering from a fast would differentially upregulate APN activity relative to disaccharidases to rapidly process and assimilate dietary protein into lean mass. We fasted 23 wild-caught migratory white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) for 48 h to mimic mass reductions experienced during migratory flight and measured intestinal APN activity before the fast, immediately after the fast, and during recovery at 24 h and 48 h post-fast. Total fat mass, lean mass and basal metabolic rate were measured daily. We show that fasted birds maintain APN activity through the fast, despite a 30% reduction in intestine mass, but during refuelling, APN activity increases nearly twofold over pre-fasted individuals. This suggests that dynamically regulating APN may be necessary for rapid protein reconstruction during the stopover.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Griego
- Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Joely DeSimone
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Mariamar Gutierrez Ramirez
- Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Alexander R Gerson
- Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
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Brun A, Magallanes ME, Barrett-Wilt GA, Karasov WH, Caviedes-Vidal E. Dietary adaptation to high starch involves increased relative abundance of sucrase-isomaltase and its mRNA in nestling house sparrows. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2020; 320:R195-R202. [PMID: 33175589 DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00181.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Dietary flexibility in digestive enzyme activity is widespread in vertebrates but mechanisms are poorly understood. When laboratory rats are switched to a higher carbohydrate diet, the activities of the apical intestinal α-glucosidases (AGs) increase within 6-12 h, mainly by rapid increase in enzyme transcription, followed by rapid translation and translocation to the intestine's apical, brush-border membrane (BBM). We performed the first unified study of the overall process in birds, relying on activity, proteomic, and transcriptomic data from the same animals. Our avian model was nestling house sparrows (Passer domesticus), which switch naturally from a low-starch insect diet to a higher starch seed diet and in whom the protein sucrase-isomaltase (SI) is responsible for all maltase and sucrase intestinal activities. Twenty-four hours after the switch to a high-starch diet, SI activity was increased but not at 12 h post diet switch. SI was the only hydrolase increased in the BBM, and its relative abundance and activity were positively correlated. Twenty-four hours after a reverse switch back to the lower starch diet, SI activity was decreased but not at 12 h post diet switch. Parallel changes in SI mRNA relative abundance were associated with the changes in SI activity in both diet-switch experiments, but our data also revealed an apparent diurnal rhythm in SI mRNA. This is the first demonstration that birds may rely on rapid increase in abundance of SI and its mRNA when adjusting to high-starch diet. Although the mechanisms underlying dietary induction of intestinal enzymes seem similar in nestling house sparrows and laboratory rodents, the time course for modulation in nestlings seemed half as fast compared with laboratory rodents. Before undertaking modulation, an opportunistic forager facing limited resources might rely on more extensive or prolonged environmental sampling, because the redesign of the intestine's hydrolytic capacity shortly after just one or a few meals of a new substrate might be a costly mistake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Brun
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.,Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas-Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina.,Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina
| | - Melisa E Magallanes
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas-Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina
| | | | - William H Karasov
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Enrique Caviedes-Vidal
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.,Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas-Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina.,Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina
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5
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Maldonado K, Newsome SD, Razeto‐Barry P, Ríos JM, Piriz G, Sabat P. Individual diet specialisation in sparrows is driven by phenotypic plasticity in traits related to trade‐offs in animal performance. Ecol Lett 2018; 22:128-137. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Karin Maldonado
- Departamento de Ciencias Facultad de Artes Liberales Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Diagonal Las Torres 2640 SantiagoChile
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Casilla 653 SantiagoChile
| | - Seth D. Newsome
- Department of Biology University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM87131USA
| | - Pablo Razeto‐Barry
- Instituto de Filosofía y Ciencias de la Complejidad IFICC Los Alerces3024 SantiagoChile
- Vicerrectoría académica Universidad Diego Portales Manuel Rodríguez Sur 415 SantiagoChile
| | - Juan Manuel Ríos
- Laboratorio de Química Ambiental Instituto Argentino de Nivología Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA, CCT‐CONICET) Mendoza5500Argentina
| | - Gabriela Piriz
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Casilla 653 SantiagoChile
| | - Pablo Sabat
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Casilla 653 SantiagoChile
- Departamento de Ecología Center of Applied Ecology & Sustainability (CAPES) Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago6513677 Chile
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Kohl KD, Brun A, Bordenstein SR, Caviedes-Vidal E, Karasov WH. Gut microbes limit growth in house sparrow nestlings (Passer domesticus) but not through limitations in digestive capacity. Integr Zool 2018; 13:139-151. [PMID: 29168619 PMCID: PMC5873389 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Recent research often lauds the services and beneficial effects of host‐associated microbes on animals. However, hosting these microbes may come at a cost. For example, germ‐free and antibiotic‐treated birds generally grow faster than their conventional counterparts. In the wild, juvenile body size is correlated with survival, so hosting a microbiota may incur a fitness cost. Avian altricial nestlings represent an interesting study system in which to investigate these interactions, given that they exhibit the fastest growth rates among vertebrates, and growth is limited by their digestive capacity. We investigated whether reduction and restructuring of the microbiota by antibiotic treatment would: (i) increase growth and food conversion efficiency in nestling house sparrows (Passer domesticus); (ii) alter aspects of gut anatomy or function (particularly activities of digestive carbohydrases and their regulation in response to dietary change); and (iii) whether there were correlations between relative abundances of microbial taxa, digestive function and nestling growth. Antibiotic treatment significantly increased growth and food conversion efficiency in nestlings. Antibiotics did not alter aspects of gut anatomy that we considered but depressed intestinal maltase activity. There were no significant correlations between abundances of microbial taxa and aspects of host physiology. Overall, we conclude that microbial‐induced growth limitation in developing birds is not driven by interactions with digestive capacity. Rather, decreased energetic and material costs of immune function or beneficial effects from microbes enriched under antibiotic treatment may underlie these effects. Understanding the costs and tradeoffs of hosting gut microbial communities represents an avenue of future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin D Kohl
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Antonio Brun
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Seth R Bordenstein
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Enrique Caviedes-Vidal
- Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Biology of San Luis, National Scientific and Technical Research Council, San Luis, Argentina.,Department of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina
| | - William H Karasov
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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7
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Gatica-Sosa C, Brzęk P, Magallanes M, Karasov WH, Caviedes-Vidal E. Intestinal α –glycosidase transcriptional responses during development and diet adjustment in altricial birds. J Exp Biol 2018; 221:jeb.171827. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.171827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 02/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
We describe developmental changes in maltasic activity and its mRNA through adulthood, and in response to increase in dietary starch. We studied house sparrows (HOSP; Passer domesticus L.), which undergo a natural switch from insects to starch-containing seed diet during development, and zebra finch (ZEBF; Taeniopygia guttata V.), which have a relatively fixed starchy-seed diet during development. In ZEBF, in whom maltasic activity increased with age but not with dietary starch, α –glycosidase (AG) mRNA was not affected by either age or dietary starch level. In HOSP nestlings, in whom maltasic activity increased with age and with added starch, AG mRNA was higher on diet with added starch but did not increase with age. These results are consistent with the idea that the apparent programmed developmental increase in maltasic activity is not mainly under transcriptional control of AG mRNA, whereas induction of maltasic activity by increased dietary starch is.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Gatica-Sosa
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
| | - Pawel Brzęk
- Institute of Biology, University of Białystok, Ciołkowskiego 1J, 15-245 Białystok, Poland
| | - Melisa Magallanes
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
| | - William H. Karasov
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Enrique Caviedes-Vidal
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, 5700 San Luis, Argentina
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NMR-Based Identification of Metabolites in Polar and Non-Polar Extracts of Avian Liver. Metabolites 2017; 7:metabo7040061. [PMID: 29144418 PMCID: PMC5746741 DOI: 10.3390/metabo7040061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2017] [Revised: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Metabolites present in liver provide important clues regarding the physiological state of an organism. The aim of this work was to evaluate a protocol for high-throughput NMR-based analysis of polar and non-polar metabolites from a small quantity of liver tissue. We extracted the tissue with a methanol/chloroform/water mixture and isolated the polar metabolites from the methanol/water layer and the non-polar metabolites from the chloroform layer. Following drying, we re-solubilized the fractions for analysis with a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer equipped with a 1.7 mm cryogenic probe. In order to evaluate the feasibility of this protocol for metabolomics studies, we analyzed the metabolic profile of livers from house sparrow (Passer domesticus) nestlings raised on two different diets: livers from 10 nestlings raised on a high protein diet (HP) for 4 d and livers from 12 nestlings raised on the HP diet for 3 d and then switched to a high carbohydrate diet (HC) for 1 d. The protocol enabled the detection of 52 polar and nine non-polar metabolites in 1H NMR spectra of the extracts. We analyzed the lipophilic metabolites by one-way ANOVA to assess statistically significant concentration differences between the two groups. The results of our studies demonstrate that the protocol described here can be exploited for high-throughput screening of small quantities of liver tissue (approx. 100 mg wet mass) obtainable from small animals.
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