Neonatal nutrition, adult antioxidant defences and sexual attractiveness in the zebra finch

Early nutrition has recently been shown to have pervasive, downstream effects on adult life-history parameters including lifespan, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Damage to biomolecules caused by oxidants, such as free radicals generated during metabolic processes, is widely...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2003-08, Vol.270 (1525), p.1691-1696
Main Authors: Blount, Jonathan D., Metcalfe, Neil B., Arnold, Kathryn E., Surai, Peter F., Devevey, Godefroy L., Monaghan, Pat
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antioxidants
Antioxidants - metabolism
Birds
Body Weights and Measures
Carotenoids
Colors
Development
Diet
Female
Female animals
Finches
Male
Male animals
Nutrition
Nutritional Status - physiology
Senescence
Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
Sexual Selection
Songbirds - metabolism
Songbirds - physiology
Taeniopygia Guttata
Vitamins
Zebras
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Summary:Early nutrition has recently been shown to have pervasive, downstream effects on adult life-history parameters including lifespan, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Damage to biomolecules caused by oxidants, such as free radicals generated during metabolic processes, is widely recognized as a key contributor to somatic degeneration and the rate of ageing. Lipophilic antioxidants (carotenoids, vitamins A and E) are an important component of vertebrate defences against such damage. By using an avian model, we show here that independent of later nutrition, individuals experiencing a short period of low-quality nutrition during the nestling period had a twofold reduction in plasma levels of these antioxidants at adulthood. We found no effects on adult external morphology or sexual attractiveness: in mate-choice trials females did not discriminate between adult males that had received standard- or lower-quality diet as neonates. Our results suggest low-quality neonatal nutrition resulted in a long-term impairment in the capacity to assimilate dietary antioxidants, thereby setting up a need to trade off the requirement for antioxidant activity against the need to maintain morphological development and sexual attractiveness. Such state-dependent trade-offs could underpin the link between early nutrition and senescence.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2003.2411