TY - JOUR AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Adámková, Marie AU - Kauzálová, Tereza AU - Lendvai, Ádám Zoltán AU - Pătraș, Laura AU - Pénzes, Janka AU - Pap, Péter L. AU - Albrecht, Tomáš AU - Tomášek, Oldřich TI - Songbirds avoid the oxidative stress costs of high blood glucose levels: a comparative study JF - JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY J2 - J EXP BIOL VL - 227 PY - 2024 IS - 1 SN - 0022-0949 DO - 10.1242/jeb.246848 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/34428380 ID - 34428380 AB - Chronically high blood glucose levels (hyperglycaemia) can compromise healthy ageing and lifespan at the individual level. Elevated oxidative stress can play a central role in hyperglycaemia-induced pathologies. Nevertheless, the lifespan of birds shows no species-level association with blood glucose. This suggests that the potential pathologies of high blood glucose levels can be avoided by adaptations in oxidative physiology at the macroevolutionary scale. However, this hypothesis remains unexplored. Here, we examined this hypothesis using comparative analyses controlled for phylogeny, allometry and fecundity based on data from 51 songbird species (681 individuals with blood glucose and 1021 individuals with oxidative state data). We measured blood glucose at baseline and after stress stimulus and computed glucose stress reactivity as the magnitude of change between the two time points. We also measured three parameters of non-enzymatic antioxidants (uric acid, total antioxidants and glutathione) and a marker of oxidative lipid damage (malondialdehyde). We found no clear evidence for blood glucose concentration being correlated with either antioxidant or lipid damage levels at the macroevolutionary scale, as opposed to the hypothesis postulating that high blood glucose levels entail oxidative costs. The only exception was the moderate evidence for species with a stronger stress-induced increase in blood glucose concentration evolving moderately lower investment into antioxidant defence (uric acid and glutathione). Neither baseline nor stress-induced glucose levels were associated with oxidative physiology. Our findings support the hypothesis that birds evolved adaptations preventing the (glyc)oxidative costs of high blood glucose observed at the within-species level. Such adaptations may explain the decoupled evolution of glycaemia and lifespan in birds and possibly the paradoxical combination of long lifespan and high blood glucose levels relative to mammals. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Marton, Attila AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Bókony, Veronika AU - Pap, Péter László AU - Pătraș, Laura AU - Pénzes, Janka AU - Bărbos, Lőrinc AU - Fülöp, Attila AU - Osváth, Gergely AU - Ducatez, Simon AU - Giraudeau, Mathieu TI - Oxidative physiology is weakly associated with pigmentation in birds JF - ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION J2 - ECOL EVOL VL - 12 PY - 2022 IS - 8 PG - 12 SN - 2045-7758 DO - 10.1002/ece3.9177 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33075602 ID - 33075602 AB - The mechanistic link between avian oxidative physiology and plumage coloration has attracted considerable attention in past decades. Hence, multiple proximal hypotheses were proposed to explain how oxidative state might covary with the production of melanin and carotenoid pigments. Some hypotheses underscore that these pigments (or their precursors, e.g., glutathione) have antioxidant capacities or function as molecules storing the toxic excess of intracellular compounds, while others highlight that these pigments can act as pro-oxidants under specific conditions. Most studies addressing these associations are at the intraspecific level, while phylogenetic comparative studies are still scarce, though needed to assess the generality of these associations. Here, we tested whether plumage and bare part coloration were related to oxidative physiology at an interspecific level by measuring five oxidative physiology markers (three nonenzymatic antioxidants and two markers of lipid peroxidative damage) in 1387 individuals of 104 European bird species sampled during the breeding season, and by scoring plumage eumelanin, pheomelanin, and carotenoid content for each sex and species. Only the plasma level of reactive oxygen metabolites was related to melanin coloration, being positively associated with eumelanin score and negatively with pheomelanin score. Thus, our results do not support the role of antioxidant glutathione in driving variation in melanin synthesis across species. Furthermore, the carotenoid scores of feathers and bare parts were unrelated to the measured oxidative physiology parameters, further suggesting that the marked differences in pigmentation across birds does not influence their oxidative state. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Penzes, Janka AU - Szabó, Krisztián AU - Magonyi, Nóra Mária AU - Czirják, Gábor Árpád AU - Pap, Péter László TI - Sexual dimorphism in immune function and oxidative physiology across birds: the role of sexual selection JF - ECOLOGY LETTERS J2 - ECOL LETT VL - 25 PY - 2022 IS - 4 SP - 958 EP - 970 PG - 13 SN - 1461-023X DO - 10.1111/ele.13973 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/32595556 ID - 32595556 AB - Sex-specific physiology is commonly reported in animals, often indicating lower immune indices and higher oxidative stress in males than in females. Sexual selection is argued to explain these differences, but empirical evidence is limited. Here, we explore sex differences in immunity, oxidative physiology and packed cell volume of wild, adult, breeding birds (97 species, 1997 individuals, 14 230 physiological measurements). We show that higher female immune indices are most common across birds (when bias is present), but oxidative physiology shows no general sex-bias and packed cell volume is generally male-biased. In contrast with predictions based on sexual selection, male-biased sexual size dimorphism is associated with male-biased immune measures. Sexual dichromatism, mating system and parental roles had no effect on sex-specificity in physiology. Importantly, female-biased immunity remained after accounting for sexual selection indices. We conclude that cross-species differences in physiological sex-bias are largely unrelated to sexual selection and alternative explanations should be explored. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Fülöp, Attila AU - Osváth, Gergely AU - Pap, Péter László AU - Pénzes, Janka AU - Benkő, Zoltán AU - Lendvai, Ádám Zoltán AU - Barta, Zoltán TI - Social groups with diverse personalities mitigate physiological stress in a songbird JF - PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES J2 - P ROY SOC B-BIOL SCI VL - 288 PY - 2021 IS - 1943 SN - 0962-8452 DO - 10.1098/rspb.2020.3092 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/31845169 ID - 31845169 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Jean-François, Lemaître AU - Pap, Péter László AU - Victor, Ronget AU - Jean-Michel, Gaillard TI - Is degree of sociality associated with reproductive senescence? A comparative analysis across birds and mammals JF - PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B - BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES J2 - PHILOS T ROY SOC B VL - 376 PY - 2021 IS - 1823 SN - 0962-8436 DO - 10.1098/rstb.2019.0744 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/31743623 ID - 31743623 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Tóth, Zsófia AU - Penzes, Janka AU - Pap, Péter László AU - Ouyang, Jenny Q. AU - Lendvai, Ádám Zoltán TI - The Relationship between Hormones, Glucose, and Oxidative Damage Is Condition and Stress Dependent in a Free-Living Passerine Bird JF - PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ZOOLOGY J2 - PHYSIOL BIOCHEM ZOOL VL - 93 PY - 2020 IS - 6 SP - 466 EP - 476 PG - 11 SN - 1522-2152 DO - 10.1086/711957 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/31707763 ID - 31707763 AB - Physiological state is an emergent property of the interactions among physiological systems within an intricate network. Understanding the connections within this network is one of the goals in physiological ecology. Here, we studied the relationship between body condition, two neuroendocrine hormones (corticosterone and insulin-like growth factor 1 [IGF-1]) as physiological regulators, and two physiological systems related to resource metabolism (glucose) and oxidative balance (malondialdehyde). We measured these traits under baseline and stress-induced conditions in free-living house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We used path analysis to analyze different scenarios about the structure of the physiological network. Our data were most consistent with a model in which corticosterone was the major regulator under baseline conditions. This model shows that individuals in better condition have lower corticosterone levels; corticosterone and IGF-1 levels are positively associated; and oxidative damage is higher when levels of corticosterone, IGF-1, and glucose are elevated. After exposure to acute stress, these relationships were considerably reorganized. In response to acute stress, birds increased their corticosterone and glucose levels and decreased their IGF-1 levels. However, individuals in better condition increased their corticosterone levels more and better maintained their IGF-1 levels in response to acute stress. The acute stress-induced changes in corticosterone and IGF-1 levels were associated with an increase in glucose levels, which in turn was associated with a decrease in oxidative damage. We urge ecophysiologists to focus more on physiological networks, as the relationships between physiological traits are complex and dynamic during the organismal stress response. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Pap, Péter László AU - Fülöp, Attila AU - Adamkova, Marie AU - Cepak, Jaroslav AU - Michalkova, Romana AU - Safran, Rebecca J. AU - Stermin, Alexandru N. AU - Tomasek, Oldrich AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Wilkins, Matthew R. AU - Albrecht, Tomas TI - Selection on multiple sexual signals in two Central and Eastern European populations of the barn swallow JF - ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION J2 - ECOL EVOL VL - 9 PY - 2019 IS - 19 SP - 11277 EP - 11287 PG - 11 SN - 2045-7758 DO - 10.1002/ece3.5629 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/30827793 ID - 30827793 AB - Variation in intensity and targets of sexual selection on multiple traits has been suggested to play a major role in promoting phenotypic differentiation between populations, although the divergence in selection may depend on year, local conditions or age. In this study, we quantified sexual selection for two putative sexual signals across two Central and East European barn swallow (Hirundo rustica rustica) populations from Czech Republic and Romania over multiple years. We then related these differences in selection to variation in sexual characters among barn swallow populations. Our results show that tail length and ventral coloration vary between populations, sexes, and age classes (first-time breeders vs. experienced birds). We found that selection on tail length was stronger in first-time breeders than in experienced birds and in males than in females in the Romanian population, while these differences between age groups and sexes were weak in Czech birds. We suggest that the populational difference in selection on tail length might be related to the differences in breeding conditions. Our results show that ventral coloration is darker (i.e., has lower brightness) in the Romanian than in the Czech population, and in experienced birds and males compared with first-time breeders and females, respectively. The sexual difference in ventral coloration may suggest sexual selection on this trait, which is supported by the significant directional selection of ventral coloration in first-time breeding males on laying date. However, after controlling for the confounding effect of wing length and tarsus length, the partial directional selection gradient on this trait turned nonsignificant, suggesting that the advantage of dark ventral coloration in early breeding birds is determined by the correlated traits of body size. These findings show that ventral coloration may be advantageous over the breeding season, but the underlying mechanism of this relationship is not clarified. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Pap, Péter László AU - Palmer, Colin AU - Moller, Anders Pape TI - Wing morphology, flight type and migration distance predict accumulated fuel load in birds JF - JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY J2 - J EXP BIOL VL - 222 PY - 2019 IS - 1 PG - 7 SN - 0022-0949 DO - 10.1242/jeb.183517 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/30565025 ID - 30565025 AB - Birds often accumulate large fat and protein reserves to fuel long-distance flights. While it is well known that species that fly the longest accumulate the largest amounts of fuel, considerable cross-species variation in fuel load is seen after controlling for overall migration distance. It remains unclear whether this variation can be explained by aerodynamic attributes of different species, despite obvious ecological and conservation implications. Here, we collected data on wing morphology, flight type, migration distance and fuel load from 213 European bird species and explored three questions: (1) does maximum fuel load relate to migration distance across species?; (2) does wing morphology, as described by wing aspect ratio and wing loading, influence maximum fuel load?; and (3) does flight type influence maximum fuel load? Our results indicate that maximum fuel load increases with migration across species, but residual variance is high. The latter variance is explained by aspect ratio and flight type, while wing loading and body mass explain little variance. Birds with slender wings accumulate less fuel than species with low wing aspect ratio when covering a similar migration distance. Continuously flapping species accumulate the largest amounts of fuel, followed by flapping and soaring species and flapping and gliding species, while the smallest fuel loads were observed in birds with passerine-type flight. These results highlight complex eco-evolutionary adaptations to migratory behaviour, pointing toward the importance of energy minimisation. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Pap, Péter László AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Salamon, Zsuzsa AU - Pándi, Andrea AU - Bálint, Blanka AU - Nord, Andreas AU - Nudds, Robert L AU - Osváth, Gergely TI - Vane macrostructure of primary feathers and its adaptations to flight in birds JF - BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY J2 - BIOL J LINN SOC VL - 126 PY - 2019 IS - 2 SP - 256 EP - 267 PG - 12 SN - 0024-4066 DO - 10.1093/biolinnean/bly189 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/30411125 ID - 30411125 AB - The selection pressures that drive flight feather morphology are poorly understood. Using a phylogenetic comparative approach and data from 178 species of birds, we investigated whether both position along the wing length and flight feather length affected vane structure. We found that barb density was lower on distal primaries than on proximal primaries of the leading feather vane. In contrast, on the trailing vane only mid-point barb density differed and, here, it showed denser barbs on the distal primaries. This difference was greater at the feather base than at the tip. Barb angle was higher along the full length of the leading edge vane on the proximal primaries than on the distal primaries. Overall, barb density decreased from base to tip on both trailing and leading vanes on both the proximal and the distal primaries. In general, barb angle was less acute at the feather base than at the tip. Barbs were in general denser in continuous flapping fliers than in soarers and the angle of barbs on both the proximal and the distal primaries was affected by flight type. However, we did not identify consistent differences in the pattern of barb angle change among flight style groups. These findings add new perspectives to our understanding of the functional morphology of the flight feather vane, although we still have limited knowledge on how aerodynamic forces, particularly during take-off and landing, affect the morphology of the feather vane. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Vágási, István Csongor AU - Vincze, Orsolya AU - Pătraș, Laura AU - Osváth, Gergely AU - Pénzes, Janka AU - Haussmann, Mark F. AU - Barta, Zoltán AU - Pap, Péter László TI - Longevity and life history coevolve with oxidative stress in birds JF - FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY J2 - FUNCT ECOL VL - 33 PY - 2019 IS - 1 SP - 152 EP - 161 PG - 10 SN - 0269-8463 DO - 10.1111/1365-2435.13228 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/30339265 ID - 30339265 LA - English DB - MTMT ER -